Shaylesh Patel is the Founder and CEO of ASTOP Limited, a pioneering social enterprise that transforms vacant commercial properties into affordable spaces for charities, delivering significant business rates relief to landlords while empowering community organisations.
Since 2013, ASTOP has repurposed over 500 sites nationwide, driving sustainable social impact.
- Tell us a little bit about your business…
What we do at ASTOP is one very simple thing. We make empty commercial spaces available, rent-free, to carefully vetted charities. That has two distinct impacts. To the landlord, it brings all kinds of significant savings and benefits. And for the charities and good causes? We’ve seen how being given a rent-free space – even on a temporary basis – can have a deeply transformative impact.
Also, apart from introducing various parties to this powerful, ethical solution, we’ve also had a hand in encouraging the industry as a whole to ‘play fair’… and that has meant shining a light on some of the less ethical practices.
As part and parcel of all this, we’ve found ourselves becoming known for ‘getting the right people in the room together’… that is, bringing together a diversity of stakeholders within the property industry – getting people out of their silos, and sharing insights in a way that often quickly leads to inspiring, transformative ideas, partnerships and solutions.
- How did you get into the industry?
It is worth saying: it is something of a niche industry. Making empty commercial spaces available to good causes.
It was triggered by a realisation I had many years ago. Whilst running an online charity, I knew it could achieve so much more if we had a physical presence as well, but the lack of budget was the constraint. It was then I learnt that we could convince landlords with voids that – by placing a charity in their empty commercial space – they could reduce their business rates costs by 80%. That ‘aha’ is what sits at the heart of ASTOP’s business model… and I am proud to say it has proved a pioneering, positive and successful idea.
- What are the biggest opportunities and challenges in your industry?
Perhaps the greatest challenge is a mix of misconceptions, ignorance (about what this solution can do), the shadier agents and landlords and the resistance to change. For many commercial landlords, it is hard to believe that it can be this easy to enjoy these many benefits. Also, there are some unethical players out there, so for some landlords, there is also a wariness that stems from that.
And the opportunities? They are huge. As soon as landlords fully make sense of what this solution can do for them, they are onboard. Also, there is an increasing number of landlords who want to do the right thing. Happy to say, ESG very much is on the rise, and I don’t see there ever being a shortage of charities welcoming rent-free space.
Also, off the back of the significant partnerships and connections we have made in the last 12 months, I see huge scope to leverage these, and to reach out with new impact.
- How would you describe your leadership style?
It is worth noting a few characteristics about ASTOP up-front: we have one very small team… and one very flat structure. Therefore, keeping the lines of communication open between us is key.
In terms of the relationship between me and my team, it is not so much an open-door policy as an always-open phone line.
- How do you get the most out of the people who work for you?
I’ve learnt that what really works is to give people responsibility and accountability… as well as access to whatever they need to get on and do things. That said, I make myself available for questions and will always have their backs if things get challenging, as they can do. I think we have nurtured a culture of openness and trust which has laid the foundation for all that follows.
- What are the most crucial elements to your business running smoothly and being successful?
At one level, it is about clarity and consensus: a shared sense of why we do things and how, and at another level, it is about understanding the human side of things. Both within and outside the organisation. What drives people? What matters most to them? How do we make sure we are really understanding people’s challenges and priorities before we offer a solution? The way we talk about what we do can vary greatly from one audience to the next. It’s about staying tuned to what matters most to the person or people in front of you.
- How has the past 12 months been for you?
It has been hugely positive – and busy. Looking back, there has been a dramatic shift in awareness of, and recognition for, what we do. In the past twelve months alone, we have been shortlisted for three separate awards, and that includes winning an award for ‘Best ESG’. We have received a different kind of recognition also, picking up accolades and testimonials from various influential figures. Additionally, ASTOP has been recognised as providing the only ethical and government-approved solution of its kind, reflected in the fact that an increasing number of council Estates Departments’ spaces are now under our care.
- What will the next 12 months look like for your business?
In some ways, it is more of the same. Increasing awareness and recognition. Not for its own sake, but so there is an increased uptake of this solution by commercial landlords, and those that advise them. To date, we have transformed over 1,000 empty spaces, and we are keen to double that number sooner rather than later.
Also, taking a step back, there are wider repercussions to what we do. As we see it, the property industry in the UK has a real opportunity, not just to clean up its act… but to become associated with a course of action that positively impacts the wider community. We are deeply heartened to see some of our commercial landlord partners going above and beyond what we’re asking of them. For instance – Legal and General Investment Management have chosen to ring-fence ALL of their business rates savings back into the community… and First Formations are making available to charities various empty spaces, even though there were no savings to made, and in fact, they are covering the extra costs arising from the charities’ presence. Given what we’ve witnessed recently, it’s not going too far to envisage a point where the UK property industry is held up as an inspiring example of what others can achieve when they commit to such ‘win-win’ solutions with far-reaching positive impacts.
- What are the highlights of your career so far?
At one level, I feel that it is about those moments where I realised that my leap of faith all those years ago, to leave the commercial world and to follow my heart, was not in vain.
One such moment was with my first charity, Healthy Planet. It was when Stephen Fry tweeted about us having used our website to adopt a plot of land as his Mother’s Day gift to his mum… “Adopting land in Healthy Planet’s conservation projects, using Google Maps technology, was the ideal Mother’s Day gift as it gives back to mother nature.” Another similar moment relates more to what we now do as ASTOP. Bringing together people and organisations from different worlds is when the magic happens.
It was the completion of our first major property transaction: being offered 77 shops from Blacks back in February 2010. As a significant sum landed in the charity’s bank account, the penny dropped, people have faith in us and what we are trying to achieve.
That said, probably the greatest highlights have been those moments where I’ve had a first-hand glimpse of the personal impacts of this work, where I’ve experienced how we’re not just positively affecting lives but also actually saving them. Such moments are both humbling and deeply gratifying.
- What’s the biggest business mistake that you’ve learnt from?
I have always been more inclined to trust than some. I guess there have been mistakes that have led from misplacing that trust… and then learning how to safeguard against that without overcompensating so much that genuine people and organisations miss out.
- What’s the best piece of business advice you’ve been given?
I am not sure it is business advice, so much as a lesson that I have picked up and that has become increasingly important and valid, as time has gone on. That is to trust my gut and to do the right thing, rather than doing the easy thing. In some ways, it has made the road a harder one, but also a more rewarding on, and one that has led us to where we are now.
