Shopfitters in London: retail units fitted out overnight

It converts an empty or previously occupied retail unit into a trading store. That means strip-out, partitions, ceilings, floors, electrical and data installation, lighting, joinery for counters and display, fitting rooms and back of house, then shopfront glazing and signage. A shopfitter also manages the landlord approvals, the permits and the programme, which is most of the work on a unit inside a trading centre.

It is priced per unit, from the approved design package and a survey of what has actually been handed over. The main variables are the unit size, how much of the previous fit-out is removed, the services scope, the joinery specification, and whether the shopfront is new. Give us the demise drawings and the brand pack and we will price against them; a firm figure follows a site visit.

Programmes inside a trading centre are counted in working nights rather than weeks, because the access window is typically a handful of hours after closing. The number of nights depends on unit size, the strip-out scope and the landlord's regime. We programme each unit individually and show what is complete at each morning's shutter-up, rather than quoting a standard duration.

That is most of what we do. The crew works to the centre's out-of-hours access, with a permit to work each night, agreed noise limits, booked dock and goods lift slots, and hoarding that stays presentable to shoppers. The unit is left safe, screened and clean before the centre opens each morning, and waste leaves during the same window rather than being stacked in the mall.

Yes, and we start by reconciling it with the unit. We survey what has been handed over, compare it against the design pack and the landlord's demise drawings, and issue a written list of deviations before pricing. That list is what protects the opening date, because the differences between the drawing and the unit are where retail programmes usually fail.

Yes: shopfront glazing, entrance doors, security shutters, fascia panels and illuminated signage. Signage usually needs advertisement consent from the borough, and in a conservation area or on a listed building the constraints are tighter and listed building consent may apply. We apply for consent as part of the approvals package rather than fitting first and asking afterwards.

Retail units, restaurants, cafés, bars, clinics and dental practices, beauty salons, gyms and offices. The construction differs, but the constraints repeat: a landlord's fit-out guide, a fixed opening date, out-of-hours access, and services that have to be commissioned and certified before anyone trades. Each sector adds its own regulations, which is why we price those separately rather than assuming a standard scope.

For brand rollouts, yes. Where a client is opening several stores to one design, we have delivered units in Manchester, Liverpool and Oxford as well as London. Rollout work suits travelling because the design pack is already fixed and the crew already knows it. A one-off project outside London is usually better handled by someone local, and we will say so.