Annual Trevor Wood survey confirms Westfield London as UK’s top mall
Unibail Rodamco Westfield’s £600m extension at Westfield London has pushed the mall into number one place in Trevor Wood Associates’ annual ranking of UK malls, overtaking its sister mall in Stratford which had topped the table for six consecutive years.
Westfield London moves up from third place in the Going Shopping 2019 survey, with Bluewater slipping from second place to third, followed by ranking risers, Meadowhall and Intu Trafford Centre.
The Definitive Guide to Shopping Centres allocates points to centres according to their size, tenant mix and range of facilities. The report identifies a Premier Division of 27 leading shopping centres, each amassing more than 4,200 points. Many of these front runners have, like Westfield London, asserted their dominance by investing in major development projects. Indeed, 38 of the 500 leading schemes refurbished or extended in the last 24 months.
For the second consecutive year, Costa Coffee is identified as the leading shopping centre tenant, with 289 units in 259 of the Top 500 centres. The remaining top five spots went to Card Factory, EE, New Look and Boots. The Works was named the fastest growing retailer with the addition of 26 units this year. The collapse of Poundworld saw it shed the greatest number of units, with 117 stores closing down.
Intu Properties moved up a position to become the leading investment manager for UK shopping centres, followed by NewRiver and Ellandi. Savills retained its crown as the top managing agent and continued its winning spree by replacing Cushman & Wakefield as the leading shopping centre letting agent.
