Insider Media Limited

Sam Metcalf examines a new report which puts Nottingham below Derby and Leicester in the race for retail supremacy.

Much noise has been made of the redevelopment of both the Broadmarsh and Victoria shopping centres in Nottingham over recent weeks, but according to one report, it’s Westfield Derby in Derby which rules the roost in the East Midlands.

Derided by some as a "grey elephant", Westfield Derby has had as many detractors as admirers since it opened in October 2007 but it has been placed as the top shopping centre in the East Midlands in the UK shopping centre hierarchy ‘Going Shopping 2011 - The Definitive Guide to Shopping Centres’ by Trevor Wood Associates.

The report ranks Shopping centres larger than 50,000 sq ft currently trading by overall attractiveness to shoppers, retailers and investors. The information was converted into points for selected features shown to be important to those groups, including tenants, lettable area, type of scheme, weekly footfall and facilities available.

From the East Midlands region 28 shopping centres feature in the national top 500, with four making the top 100 of the guide which uses footfall, size, number and type of shops and facilities available to rank the UK’s top shopping centres.

In Nottingham, Capital Shopping Centres, owner of The Victoria Centre and Westfield, owner of Westfield Broadmarsh, have both submitted plans for large scale redevelopment of their respective shopping centres; which, if undertaken, would prospectively see Nottingham as the only city outside London to have two top 30 city centre shopping centres. However, in this latest report, Leicester’s Highcross shopping centre came above these two fading stars of the East Midlands retail scene.

The region’s top centre, Westfield Derby, saw Betta Living, Duck and Cover, and Ditsch open stores over the past 12 months.

Nationally the research shows the emergence of a premier division of 27 leading shopping centres that includes newcomers St David's, Cardiff and Liverpool One. Many of these leading schemes have plans to expand or enhance their tenant mix, further consolidating their dominance.

Trevor Wood, managing director of Trevor Wood Associates, says: "It is encouraging that despite prevailing market conditions, most of the 500 leading schemes increased their scores, even if only marginally. This shows the understanding from landlords and tenants that long term success comes from sustained investment."

Trevor Wood Associates say that budget brands have expanded since the last report, with the likes of Shoe Zone, Peacocks and Poundland all moving up the occupancy table and Greggs undertaking the most single occupier expansion. The mobile phone sector has undertaken the most expansion overall.

The report also shows that 95 per cent of the 500 leading schemes now have stores trading every Sunday, up from 92 per cent in the 2008 report; all open on Sundays in the run up to Christmas. Every one of the top 100 schemes opens every Sunday. Of these, 34 incorporate a food court, while 28  feature a cinema, ten have libraries, four have bowling alleys and 17 have fitness or leisure centres, making shopping trips on Sunday more of a social occasion.

One swallow doesn’t make a summer, of course, but with both Derby and Leicester coming above Nottingham in this report, it will surely be a wake up call to Nottingham’s planning chiefs to make sure that Westfield don’t dally with the Broadmarsh, and Capital kicks on with the Victoria Centre expansion. Nottingham’s reputation as the queen of East Midlands retail appears to be under threat.

Sam Metcalf, Insider