Bullring, Intu Merry Hill and Telford Centre among best shopping centres in UK

The Bullring was ranked eighth, Intu Merry Hill ranked 10th and Telford Centre ranked 40th in GlobalData’s Top 50 Shopping Centres Report for 2019.

The report was compiled using consumer and business-to-business research as well as data from landlords, property experts and shoppers.

Westfield London and Westfield Stratford City have been named the best shopping centres in the UK for the second consecutive year, coming in first and second place respectively.

Bluewater came in third place, followed by Intu Trafford Centre and Intu Lakeside.

Meadowhall in Sheffield, Intu Metrocentre and Brent Cross Shopping Centre made up the rest of the top 10.

Joseph Robinson, retail consulting director at GlobalData, said: “GlobalData’s 2019 ranking highlights the continued outperformance of Westfield’s London centres. However, overall the top 20 list paints a picture of excellent shopping centre provision throughout the UK.”

There is strong representation from outside of London, including three centres in the North West and virtually all regions of Britain boasting excellent shopping centre provision.

Of the main risers in the Top 50 Shopping Centres rankings this year, intu Watford, Westgate Oxford and The Lexicon Bracknell have seen the most significant improvement.

Alongside traditional metrics such as turnover and footfall, the new rankings also take into account future potential, provision of retail, food service and leisure facilities and, crucially, the views of the shoppers who have visited them.

According to GlobalData’s primary consumer research, the prime reason for visiting shopping centres remains the diversity of retailers and products on offer. This is evident in the key aspects shoppers consider when deciding which shopping centre to visit, with 55.6 per cent mentioning the presence of their favourite retailers and 56.1 per cent mentioning lots of different retailers to visit.

Mr Robinson said: “Our research found that retail is still the most important consideration for shoppers with the most sought after retailer in shopping centres being Primark.”

Food and leisure options continue to be a key factor in where consumers decide to shop – 83.1 per cent of shoppers undertook leisure activities while visiting a shopping centre in 2019, and almost a quarter of all consumers visit for the purpose of eating out or using the leisure facilities.

Mr Robinson added: “Over one third of shoppers visit shopping centres at least twice a month with the average shopper making 17.3 trips a year – up from 15.9 in 2018. And confounding today’s modern myth that young people don’t like to visit physical shops, the research shows that under 35s remain the most frequent visitors.

“As retail spend continues to shift online, shopping centres play an important role in facilitating the multichannel shopping journey with the proportion of shoppers visiting in order to return or collect an online order, rising on 2018.”