Cambridge and Guildford top the list of the UK’s most resilient retail locations, according to new research from Cushman & Wakefield, which ranks the viability and performance of 250 High Streets outside Central London.
Online sales coupled with rising business rates have made survival on the traditional high street increasingly challenging for retailers in the UK over the past decade. The latest Cushman & Wakefield research report UK High Streets: Dead or Alive? groups the top performing locations as well as those struggling for survival.
The focal point of the report is the Retail Resilience Index, a ranking of 250 towns based on 22 economic, demographic and retail property metrics, most of which have been tracked over a 10-year period, providing a rounded analysis of town performance. These metrics include retailer demand, leisure spend, floor space density, rental change as well as broader economic indicators such as house prices, catchment demographics, business survival rates and tourism spend.
On an individual town basis, Cambridge, Guildford, Bath, Chichester and Oxford are the High Streets that have shown the greatest resilience over the last decade. Conversely, Hamilton, Llandudno, Newport, Greenock, Ramsgate and Kilmarnock prop up the list of 250 sites.
Solihull is ranked 17th in the Retail Resilience Index whilst Birmingham is ranked in 37th place. Other Midlands towns and cities included Leamington Spa (39), Derby (57), Worcester (58) and Nottingham (61).
Doug Tweedie, Head of Midlands Retail at Cushman & Wakefield said: “Our report highlights the shortage of East and West Midlands locations in the top tiers. Having taken occupancy rate, affluence, population, quality of life, strength of the economy into consideration, the region is represented by 3 in the top 50, and 14 in the top 100.
“The report places a lot of emphasis on the correlation between affluence of the catchment and health of the High Street. At a glance this does not make for particularly good reading for the region however, with a growing regional economy, solid employment figures, strong development pipeline and clear vision for the future of the region, the business case for investing in our High Streets, creating a better quality, more interesting environment, in order to meet the high expectations we all have for our town centres, becomes ever stronger.
“Aside from Birmingham city centre, and to a certain extent Solihull, a very high proportion of our High Streets are owned by multiple landlords, collaboration to make improvements can be non-existent. Whilst we know where we sit in the rankings, when we turn to delivering on those goals, the challenge becomes greater. The region provides a number of examples where councils are buying in large town centre assets, such as Shopping Centres and High Street blocks. Whatever your views are on the capital being put at risk, the overriding reason for investing in town centres is a positive one; to improve the areas we work, shops and live in.
He added: “Developer appetite for new projects is riding high, but in a lot of cases the values don’t support the schemes proposed. Solving that conundrum will be the key to bringing forward town changing development in some of our smaller, more challenging markets.”
Report author Amy Gibson, Cushman & Wakefield’s Senior Research Analyst, said: “Consumer tastes and needs have evolved over time and it is clear from our analysis that some locations have adapted more effectively than others to the ongoing structural change in the sector. Consumers are willing to travel further to seek out new and exciting retail experiences, whilst simultaneously demanding greater convenience nearer to home. This creates opportunities on some of the country’s most challenged high streets to diversify beyond the traditional retail offer and explore alternative uses that are relevant to the needs of the catchment population. Essentially, it is about re-purposing the high street.”
Darren Yates, Cushman & Wakefield’s Head of EMEA Retail Research & Insight, said:
“This study reveals where in the UK the High Street is doing very well and there are a number of places which are thriving. However, profitability in the online era has been a major challenge for retailers, with a number consolidating store estates to reduce costs. The selective nature of demand has created a polarised retail environment, with many operators focusing on key, high-footfall locations. For investors, this structural change has made it harder to pick ‘winning’ assets, while the blurring of online and offline has made it increasingly difficult to quantify the value of the store.”
