An analysis of f&b outlets in major cities has shown pockets of potential but also areas approaching saturation.
Colliers looked at figures from the Local Data Company which showed that in areas such as Newcastle and Manchester the split between leisure and retail now stands at 43%/57%.
The data shows that Norwich has the smallest supply of leisure at 27%, followed by Nottingham at 33% and Brighton at 35%. Colliers said these are the areas with the greatest headroom to increase their f&b offer.
Newcastle has seen the biggest increase in its share of leisure over the past three years – growing from 39% in 2014, with Bristol growing from 37% to 40% in the same time and Nottingham up from 30% to 33%.
Leeds was highlighted as an area where there had been a leap in leisure units between 2014 and 2016 (34% - 37%) but had stayed flat in the following year.
Colliers pointed out that while the overall number of leisure units in Brighton had remained static, there had been a lot of churn. Out of 46 new f&b openings in the past year, 85% were independent operators (reflective of the overall offer in Brighton and Hove).
It also pointed out that almost a third of the new Grand Central Shopping Centre (19 units) is dedicated to f&b including new offerings to Birmingham such as Tapas Revolution, Caffe Concerto, Pho, Tortilla and Crepe Affaire.
