Callcredit 2012 RetailVision Report: Manchester retains position but revenues fall across most retail centres
Callcredit Information Group has released its 2012 RetailVision Report of the UK retail landscape, revealing that Manchester has retained its position as the largest retail centre outside of London - but revenues have fallen across nearly all of the major retail centres.
Callcredit's retail centre league table, which uses RetailVision retail planning software to model revenue generated from comparison goods sales, shows that out of the top 10 retail centres, only Knightsbridge saw a rise in revenue compared to last year.
The report, based on new calculations and additional research*, also reveals that the Westfield Stratford City shopping centre has rocketed into seventh place in the table, despite opening only six months ago. Birmingham has leapfrogged Glasgow to take third place, while Leeds has overtaken both Liverpool and Edinburgh to take eighth place.
The RetailVision Report provides the UK's most detailed market analysis of shopper catchments and retail centre revenues across the UK. It covers 17,107 retail centres - an increase of 848 centres compared to last year - classified across 25 centre types.
The definitive view of the UK retail landscape... download our PDF wallchart for RetailVision 2012
For this year's report, Callcredit has enhanced and fine-tuned its retail data to result in even greater levels of accuracy. A number of large retail parks have been segmented into smaller, distinct retail centres, new floorspace data has been included and verified, and 394 new retailers have been added. Post sector-level demand for each of the four retail categories - fashion, electrical, grocery and homeware & DIY - is also available.
In addition, RetailVision has introduced new brand classifications, with retailers now being classified either as luxury, premium, mass, budget or value. Blackpool - which came 90th in the overall revenue chart - topped the table for the most value stores (21.02% of all stores), followed by Sunderland (20.94%) and Wakefield (19.02%).
Nine of the top 10 'luxury' retail centres are in London and the South East, with Knightsbridge, Chelsea and Westfield White City at the top of the table. Manchester (10th) was the only retail centre outside of the South East to have a place in the top 10.
Chris Duley, commercial director at Callcredit Information Group, said: "The fact that revenues have fallen across nearly all retail centres in the past year shows just how tough trading conditions are. In this economic climate, it is vital that retailers use strategic planning models to help them choose the right location for their brand and customers. As a result of the enhancements we have made to RetailVision, we can now provide - with pinpoint accuracy - data and insight to enable retailers to make informed business decisions and capture market share."
*This year's RetailVision rankings have been calculated using new and more detailed research criteria - giving a greater degree of accuracy compared to previous years. In many retail centres, the number of stores has been adjusted and the sales per square foot have been revised. In addition, some large retail parks that were in previous years treated as single entities have been separated into smaller, individual retail centres and their boundaries changed, resulting in additional retail centres being included in this year's report. In some cases, these changes may have contributed to a change in ranking for some retail centres, compared to their 2011 position.
