Trevor Wood Associates’ Going Shopping – The Definitive Guide to Shopping Centres 2020 has named Westfield London as the UK’s number 1 shopping centre for the second year running. Westfield Stratford City and Bluewater have also maintained second and third place.
Despite a market dominated by CVA announcements, there has been little change in terms of the top 10 retailers within shopping centres, with Costa Coffee retaining its number one slot and Card Factory in second. Boots, however, has moved up two places to third and is the leading anchor store for the top 100 schemes joint with H & M. New Look has notably moved down from fourth to seventh place following the closure of a large number of stores, whilst Greggs has moved up one place to fifth.
Many of the twenty-eight leading schemes have plans to expand or enhance their tenant mix, and this will further consolidate the dominance of a Premier Division of shopping centres.
Below this Premier Division, there has been a fair amount of activity, with forty-seven of the 500 leading schemes refurbished or extended in the last twenty-four months. This year has seen the opening of a major extension at intu Lakeside in Thurrock, Grays in August 2019, and details of all this activity is contained in the report’s eleven regional sections.
Twenty-four tenants anchor at least ten top 100 schemes, thirty tenants anchor at least ten top 200 schemes and thirty six tenants anchor at least ten top 500 schemes.
There are over 31,000 retail units within the 500 leading schemes, and some 24,000 are occupied by major comparison goods retailers or groups with turnovers in excess of £3 million pa, involving almost 1,700 different trading fascias. There is one new entry in the top 10 and one new addition to the top 40.
Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet in Ellesmere Port is, for the eleventh review running, considered to be the leading outlet centre, whilst there is a new entry to the top ten.
Fort Kinnaird in Newcraighall, Edinburgh has overtaken Glasgow Fort in Easterhouse, Glasgow and is considered to be the leading shopping park while, following an extension, Rushden Lakes Shopping Park in Rushden enters the top five for the first time.
