Bristol shopping centre The Mall at Cribbs Causeway has retained its position as most attractive centre in the south west of England in spite of tough retail conditions, new research reveals.
Trevor Wood Associates has published the latest edition of its regular report Going Shopping – The Definitive Guide to Shopping Centres. This report ranks Britain’s top 500 shopping centres on their overall attractiveness to customers, based on factors including their size, tenants, weekly footfall and other facilities.
The Mall at Cribbs Causeway, owned by Capital Shopping Centres and Prudential, has dropped two places since the last report and is now ranked 21st most attractive shopping centre in the UK. The owners have revealed plans to expand the 780,000 sq ft centre by two-thirds.
Bristol’s Cabot Circus has been named the southwest’s second most attractive centre and 36th nationwide, with Drake’s Circus, Plymouth (52nd); Brunel, Swindon (64th);The Galleries (90th); and Yate Shopping Centre (99th) also in the top 100, while Princesshay in Exeter slipped to 107th and Southgate, Bath has risen to 143rd from 156th.
Across the whole of the UK, the research shows how the recession is having a big impact on the mix of tenants in major shopping centres.
High street chemist Boots is now rated as the leading tenant in UK shopping centres, climbing from third place in the table, and replacing ailing chain Clinton Cards, which dropped from top to 17th position. Struggling computer game retailer Game has also dropped out of the top ten, while new entrants to the top ten include Costa Coffee, Card Factory and Phones 4 U.
Trevor Wood Associates also shows how the recession has taken a toll on the pipeline of new developments, which is at its lowest level since this piece of research was first published in 1998. The retail property specialist identified just 87 proposed new schemes or major extensions to existing schemes that are thought likely to proceed before the end of 2019.
