Since our last update, no administrations were reported.
US leisure operator Entrepology is bringing its extreme indoor trampoline parks to the UK with a roll-out across all major cities. It has a mandate to bring the concept, called High Heaven, to 12 sites across the country. The first UK centre will open in Glasgow, where Entrepology is currently fitting out a 30,000sqft building, later this year.
According to GfK’s Consumer Confidence Barometer, consumer confidence has fallen for the first time in six months in July. Overall index score decreased by three points to -2 after crossing into positive territory for the first time in nearly ten years in June
Some interesting points have been raised over the past month in the retail property industry, and include:
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UK high streets are getting less and less empty as the economic recovery continues, even as fewer shoppers actually head for shops. The BRC and Springboard have revealed that the vacancy rate in UK town centres had dropped to just 10.1% in July.
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On the other hand CACI research shows that more than a quarter of the UK is oversupplied with retail space, yet more is being developed. CACI said oversupply would rise to 37% by 2019, with a further 32m sq ft of space across 187 sites set to come online by 2020.
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The amount of new supermarket space proposed for the UK has fallen to the lowest level since September 2008, according to CBRE. The amount of new space under construction for convenience stores and out-of-town supermarkets has also fallen 30% YoY.
The biggest spending tourists in the UK are from the Middle East - according to Global Blue. Last year, visitors from Qatar topped the list by spending an average of £288.17 on each trip to the till. This was followed by £199.87 spent by visitors from Saudi Arabia, £188.29 by UAE visitors and £189.41 by visitors from Bahrain. In comparison, the average European tourist, making up the bulk of visitors to the UK, spent just £49 per sale in the same period last year, whilst US visitors spent £65.41.
We recently posted an update on changing face of tourism and to us it appears that designer labels and high-end retail have become the new staple shopping items for tourists to take back home and show off to their friends and family. Visit Britain found that while Middle Eastern visitors want cutting edge fashion, they are not as interested in buying British food and drink
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