This week’s Market Growth Monitor from CGA Peach and AlixPartners identified some of the hotspots and black spots of Britain’s city centres and high streets. Here are eight key trends:
Big cities trump big towns
In many areas of Britain, the broad trend in consumers’ eating and drinking out habits lately has been away from large towns and towards major city centres. Market Growth Monitor figures show that city high streets have seen a 4.4% increase in new openings over the last three years, against a 0.6% decline in large towns.
North-south divide narrowing
Much is made of the gap in economic fortunes between the north and south of Britain. But in hospitality at least, recent trends in new openings have been in favour of the north. Of the ten city centres with the best growth in licensed premises in the last year, seven – Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Leeds, Bradford and Glasgow – are north of the Midlands.
Manchester and Liverpool are buzzing
The pace of new openings in the north west hubs of Manchester and Liverpool continues to gain momentum. Between them, the two city centres had 53 net new openings in the 12 months to March – equivalent to one a week. Many of them have been casual dining restaurants, but premium bars with an emphasis on cocktails and craft beer have flourished as well.
Retail developments have driven growth
What many of the city centres showing growth have in common is the success of major retail and leisure schemes. Brands’ presence in Liverpool has been hugely helped by the popularity of Liverpool One, for instance, and in Leeds by the Trinity centre. Newcastle has benefited from Intu’s revamp of Eldon Square, and Southampton has had a stream of new openings at its WestQuay Watermark development.
Cities taking commuter belt trade
In several cases, big cities would appear to be drawing new openings out of their adjacent towns. Croydon, for instance, has had ten net closures over the last year, with consumers sucked into central London instead. Huddersfield’s number of licensed premises has fallen too, perhaps because of the attraction of Leeds close by. An exception to the trend is Manchester, where a vibrant city centre seems to be having a halo effect, with both Altrincham and Stockport adding licensed premises in the year to March. Both places attract young professionals working in Manchester, and new restaurant and bar concepts have followed them there.
Market towns holding up
While many large and suburban towns have seen a modest decline in licensed premises, high streets on smaller towns have held their numbers up reasonably well. Their number of premises has edged up by 1.0% over the last three years – lower than the figure of 4.4% for cities but better than the decline of 0.6% for large towns. It is the result of some multi-site casual dining operators turning to market towns for their next phase of growth.
Some seaside towns struggling
Of the ten large towns with the most high street closures in the last year, three – Weston-Super-Mare, Margate and Blackpool – are on the coast. These and other classic British resorts have seen visitor numbers fall for many years now, and that has reduced their appeal to managed pub and restaurant groups.
Cafes and wine bars taking circuit bars’ share in towns
On high streets in large towns, the number of venues classified by CGA Peach as circuit bars has fallen by 8.0% in the last three years – but the number of licensed cafes and wine bars has risen by 5.9% in the same period. In small towns, the corresponding figures are a 6.5% fall in circuit bars and a 9.2% increase in cafes and wine bars. It points to a shift away from nights out that revolve around drinking and beer, towards a more sophisticated experience.
