Westfield in Shepherd’s Bush has been dubbed the UK’s best-performing shopping centre in a new report by GlobalData.
The west London shopping centre scored 4.09 out of five, with Westfield Stratford City coming in second place at 3.98 out of five.
Kent’s Bluewater centre scores 3.63, Intu Trafford 3.44 and Intu Lakeside 3.40.
The survey is the first to bring in consumer and B2B research, compiling data from landlords, property experts and shoppers in order to examine the experiences of both shoppers and retailers.
Each centre was judged on four sections: performance (footfall, sales, turnover, dwell time), potential (shopper spending and five year forecasts), provision (leisure facilities, loyalty schemes and click & collect) and meeting shopper expectations (a survey of 5,000 shoppers on a UK nationally representative basis).
GlobalData retail consulting director Joseph Robinson explained that while “the top three shopping centres are located in London and the South East, geographically the top 20 rankings paints a picture of excellent shopping centre provision across the UK.’’
In fact the survey found a strong representation for retail centres in the North West (three centres: intu Trafford Centre, Manchester Arndale and Liverpool One) and the North East (intu Metrocentre), Wales (St. Davids, Cardiff), Yorkshire (Meadowhall), the West Midlands (intu Merry Hill) Scotland (three centres: intu Braehead, East Kilbride and the Centre, Livingston) and the South West (The Mall at Cribbs Causeway).
GlobalData’s research also reported that the top 50 UK shopping centres account for £17.4 billion in shopper spending per year – almost 5 per cent of total UK shopper spend on non-food retail, food service and leisure, reflecting the continued importance of these locations to UK retail.
Looking to the future, GlobalData singled out Intu Watford, Edinburgh St James, Intu Lakeside and Intu Trafford Centre as key shopping centres under development.
Meanwhile the report also pointed to Axiom in Yorkshire as the only major brand new UK shopping centre planned to be developed in the next five years.
Planned to open in 2021 near Wakefield, the shopping centre is being developed with changing shopping habits in mind and is set to offer a ‘multi-channel, multi-sensory’ experience.
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