News
Blackstar secures property management mandate at Edmonton Green
11th November 2026Crosstree Real Estate Partners has appointed Blackstar Real Estate to provide property management services at Edmonton Green in North London. Located in the borough of Enfield, Edmonton Green is a 500,000 sq ft community-led retail asset, with occupiers including Asda, Lidl, Iceland, and Boots. The 26-acre site comprises the entirety of the town centre and benefits from a wider consented mixed-use residential-led masterplan designed to rebuild the existing retail scheme and add up to 1,500 homes. The appointment expands Blackstar’s existing mandate at Edmonton Green, bringing asset and property management under a single platform. Liam Singh, managing director at Crosstree, said: “Blackstar has demonstrated a proactive and commercially focused approach to asset management at Edmonton Green. Extending its responsibilities to include property management is a natural progression and will provide a more integrated approach to the operation and strategic direction of the centre. We look forward to building on the progress already made.” Sabri Marsaoui, chief executive officer of Blackstar Real Estate, added: “We are delighted to be expanding our role at Edmonton Green and strengthening our relationship with Crosstree. Bringing asset and property management together allows us to take a fully integrated, hands-on approach, ensuring that our asset management […]
Deals
Newcastle shopping centre welcomes two independent retailers
10th November 2026Gosforth Central shopping centre on Gosforth High Street in Newcastle is set to welcome two independent retailers. Forum Books will open its fourth shop, which will trade as The Forth, while Ouseburn-based boutique The Find will open its second location, selling local art and handmade and vintage goods. Both retailers are currently fitting out their stores and are expected to open before the end of November. The two shops are the first lettings in the former TGJones store, which closed in September and has since been sub-divided into four ground floor units and one first floor unit. Forum Books and The Find have taken two ground floor units, pre-letting 50% of the former TGJones floor space. The Forth will be the latest bookshop from the team behind Forum Books, which opened its first store in Corbridge in 2011 followed by The Bound in Whitley Bay and The Accidental Bookshop in Alnwick. The Find has traded on Lime Street in Ouseburn for over three years, with owner Jessica Penrose looking to bring together a collective of local artists, makers, and vintage sellers specifically chosen for Gosforth Central. The two lettings continue the transformation of the 74,000 sq ft centre which was […]
Requirements
Costa Coffee brews up further expansion
8th September 2026Costa Coffee has unveiled its latest property requirements as it looks to continue its expansion across England, Scotland, and Wales. The coffee shop chain, working with its long-standing partner Savills, is looking to open new locations in retail parks and shopping centres, as well as on high streets and within travel locations. Costa Coffee is also looking to open drive-through units in out-of-town retail locations. Ideal units will range in size between 1,250 sq ft and 2,200 sq ft and be located adjacent to foodstores, retail warehousing, and leisure space. Within retail parks, Costa is seeking units ranging between 1,500 sq ft and 2,500 sq ft in size with external seating. Freestanding or in-line units will be considered, with nearby car parking a necessity. Ideal units will be situated in out-of-town locations with significant traffic flow, adjacent to foodstores, and retail and leisure clusters. In high street and shopping centre destinations, Costa is looking for units between 1,500 sq ft and 2,500 sq ft with outside seating. Locations such as universities, hospitals, and leisure destinations will also be considered. The operator is also looking to open new sites within travel locations such as transport hubs and train stations with significant […]
Insights
Q&A: Landsec’s portfolio director Clare Dutton: “we’re investing a lot into retail”
23rd October 2026Landsec is investing big in retail. The real estate investment trust recently snapped up the 1.86m sq ft Metrocentre shopping centre in Gateshead, and earlier this year touted major retail as a “more attractive” sector than office or residential development. In addition, Landsec has welcomed a number of ‘firsts’ to its portfolio: Garage opened its first store in the UK in Bluewater, while at Liverpool ONE, Lefties made its UK debut and Salomon opened its first store outside of London. As demand for prime shopping centre space creeps up, how does Landsec pick the right brands for the right spaces? Completely Retail News caught up with portfolio director Clare Dutton to discuss the landlord’s approach to selecting new tenants, which retailers are the most acquisitive, and the role of physical retail within shopping centres: How does Landsec identify the brands it wants to attract to its shopping centres? “We’re close to the market, so we know of the new brands that are acquisitive. We also have a lot of data, because we reach one in every two consumers in the UK, in respect to things that our customers are looking for. “So it’s a combination of knowing who’s in the […]
Advice
Turn lease events from growing pains into commercial gains
10th March 2026By Simon Matley, director for dilapidations and occupier services at TFT After a period of acquisition, a large commercial retail portfolio can become either a major liability or a powerful cost saver for retailers who need every advantage they can get in a challenging consumer market. For national multiples and high street brands, often with sizeable portfolios numbering in the hundreds of units, or for smaller regional operations that are growing at speed, flexibility and control are hugely important. Brands today are adapting their portfolios in light of changing consumer behaviour and omni-channel retailing, and this is shaped by the increasingly sophisticated data capture that allows them to better understand stock, fulfilment, customer behaviour, and operations. For many who have been acquiring premises over the past 10 years, they will almost certainly find that data allows them to be more efficient in the space they need, not least because of the growth of last mile logistics and on demand deliveries which enables occupiers to be nimble in how they use their spaces. Whether they operate on the high street, in retail parks or rely on distribution centres, retailers want to scale fast, explore new territory and snap up the right […]
News
Leeds’ Victoria Gate celebrates 10th anniversary
10th November 2026Victoria Gate, part of Redical’s Victoria Leeds shopping destination in Leeds, is celebrating its 10th anniversary. The destination, which opened in October 2016 following a £165m development, sits alongside the Grade II-listed Victoria Quarter to create Victoria Leeds. Anchored by the only John Lewis store in the region, the Redical-owned Victoria Leeds was named as the World’s Best Shopping Centre at MIPIM in 2017 and as the UK’s number one shopping centre on Tripadvisor earlier this year. Since opening, the destination has welcomed over 135 million visits, driven by an active leasing strategy which has seen Redical lease 70,400 sq ft of previously vacant floorspace since acquiring the scheme, reducing vacancy from around 15% by floor area to less than 5% today. More than 35 new brands have arrived at the shopping centre during Redical’s ownership. Pour Moi, Aesop, APM Monaco, Lisa Angel, AS Colour, and Randox have all made their northern debuts at the destination, while Wax London, Missoma, Monica Vinader, Byredo, and Le Labo chose Victoria Leeds for their first stores outside London. Alo, Nobody’s Child, Arabian Oud, and ARNE have since chosen the scheme for their second stores outside of London, with ARNE opening its third permanent […]
