Yorkshire’s retail sector is back in style

YORKSHIRE and the Humber’s retail sector has turned it around after five years of “prolonged decline according to a new report.

It found that rental rents for retail had edged up in 2015. The region saw a growth of 0.4%, the highest outside of London and outperformed the rest of the country which saw a decline of 0.3% .

Some of the biggest shopping centres in the UK are currently being built in Yorkshire, with the Broadway development by Westfield in Bradford and Leeds’ Victoria Gate well under way.

The report, dubbed New Frontiers, was from Colliers International, a Midsummer Retail Report.

Tom Cullen, Colliers International director, retail agency, explained: “Yorkshire and Humberside’s 2015 retail rental growth figures indicate a positive outlook after the prolonged downtown.

“The region’s 2015 rental growth surpassed the national average; however, the average rent remains 19% below pre-recession levels, of £155 in 2008, recording a regional average of £125 per sq ft in 2015.”

Rents for bars and restaurants are ahead of the shops they sit alongside with spending in restaurants up 17 per cent in Yorkshire during the first quarter of 2015 according to Colliers.

 

Close