Retailers Create Work at Top Shopping Centres
Refurbishing and enlarging big shopping centres in and around major cities has been one of the few areas of growth in retail construction this year. The largest destinations are taking a rising share of consumer spending, so owners and retailers want to improve and extend them. Developers are also broadening these centres beyond shopping to include leisure, food and drink, homes and green space.
According to Glenigan, work starting on shopping centre projects in the three months to July was worth £23 million, 56% more than in the same period a year before.
Landsec, the UK's biggest property company, owns centres including Bluewater in Kent, Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth and St David's in Cardiff. Its annual report says the top 1% of UK shopping destinations capture 30% of in-store spending, and around 90% of its retail assets fall into that group, which explains its focus on fewer, larger stores in prime locations. In 2024/25, 17 brands took more space in its centres, 30 new brands arrived and 45 existing brands opened in additional Landsec locations. Next's Bluewater shop is now three times its former size at 133,000 sq ft, while Primark's branch at the White Rose centre in Leeds has doubled, reaching 71,000 sq ft.
Over the coming one to three years Landsec plans a further £1 billion of investment in its retail portfolio, including roughly £200 million of capital spending. Plans include new food and drink areas in Leeds and at Gunwharf Quays, and a £50 million conversion of Buchanan Galleries in Glasgow into shopping and leisure space, due to start next spring.
Glenigan also highlights other schemes. Tenders are back on an £80 million second phase at McArthurGlen Designer Outlet East Midlands at Cannock, covering about 13,700 sqm of retail and a food court refurbishment, with an 11-month build from next spring. In Shrewsbury, outline plans have been lodged for the £67 million Smithside Riverside Redevelopment, which would partly demolish the Pride Hill centre to make room for shops, a cinema, bars, restaurants and an outdoor events area, with a 36-month programme from early 2026. In Northampton, a £12.5 million project backed by the Towns Fund will turn the empty Market Walk centre into a food hall and leisure venue of nearly 2,500 sq m, starting this autumn.
