Industry comment: Looking ahead to 2026 – part two
This article is a continuation of our Looking ahead to 2026 piece. You can find part one here.
Neil Hockin, joint managing director at LM:
“This year has highlighted the speed at which consumer-facing sectors evolve, and our industry must keep closing the gap between fast-moving customer behaviour and the traditionally slower pace of property. Covid showed how quickly habits can shift and that pace has not eased. We have strengthened our team with fresh talent to deepen our insight and deliver best-in-class advice across our four divisions: retail leasing, lease advisory, investment and restaurants and leisure.
“High streets and shopping centres continue to diversify, with more leisure, community and experiential concepts. Recent additions such as Guinness World Records at The O2 and the immersive gaming brand Activate show how demand for social, engaging activities is growing. Quick-service restaurant operators remain active, particularly in the chicken sector where competitive tension from new and exiting brands is driving rental growth, while high street staples like Next, Primark and TK Maxx continue to trade strongly. We are also seeing regional growth from iconic brands with a strong West End presence, including ALO Yoga and Wax London’s signing in Victoria Quarter Leeds. Although our principal focus is the UK, we closely track overseas markets to identify opportunities to bring new brands here and are working with REVO on a study tour to Berlin and Hamburg in 2027 to explore innovation and regeneration at scale.
“That being said, challenges do remain. Demand is still concentrated in the top 50 UK locations, meaning landlords elsewhere must adopt more creative and adaptable leasing strategies. We are increasingly active in the health sector, working with both private operators and NHS-backed concepts to support sustainable footfall. We are concerned that with the ongoing Following local government reorganisation and restricted budgets, many authorities face pressure on funding and decision-making capacity, both essential for unlocking town centre regeneration where private-sector appetite and money alone is not enough.
“Across the UK, many former department stores remain vacant. If simple solutions existed, they would already be occupied. A more coordinated approach is required, and the transformation of Arding & Hobbs in Clapham shows how a mix of uses across retail, leisure, wellbeing and workspace can revive these vacant spaces. Replicating viable versions of this across the regions could deliver meaningful impact. AI will undoubtedly shape the sector, but it offers real opportunity for High St retailers by improving efficiency, distribution, customer interaction and insight. As the landscape evolves, experienced, proactive advisers continue to play a vital role in accelerating deals, adding value and ensuring clients receive the strongest possible guidance and this is where LM excel”
David Allinson, centre director at Manchester Arndale
“2025 was a great year for the retail sector with both leasing and investment activity hotting up. The past 12 months has seen several new entrants to the sector both from an investor and occupier perspective. At Manchester Arndale we have witnessed this first hand with traditionally digitally focused brands like Alo Yoga, Arc’teryx, Pro:Direct, Moida, and Mococo have all opened their first spaces outside London in Manchester.
“Manchester has become the go-to place for growing brands keen to expand their physical presence thanks to the city’s young demographic due to a high student and international audience keen to explore new trends. Last year, over 50% of spend at Manchester Arndale and New Cathedral Street was from under 35s making it an ideal location for these brands to experiment with new store concepts targeted at this demographic.
“As we move into 2026 we expect to see more new entrants to the retail space, as retail destinations look to freshen up their occupier line-ups in order to stand out from their competitors. We are also continuing to see existing occupiers refresh their stores and last year we saw Deichmann, Waterstones, and Footasylum commit to significant upgrades to their spaces at Manchester Arndale.
“This investment by retailers highlights the confidence they have in the future of city centre retail and understand the importance of refreshing their offering in order to keep up with consumer trends.
“2026 is set to be another exciting year for Manchester as we see further investment across the city centre, after Manchester City Council secured nearly £200m from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) to support economic growth and boost housing development. This sits alongside an action-packed cultural events calendar including the Brit Awards coming to the city for the first time. All of which will continue to drive occupier demand with brands keen to capitalise on Manchester’s thriving economic growth.”
Iain Minto, senior director of asset management at Sovereign Centros by CBRE for Cribbs Causeway
“At Cribbs we saw a 13% rise in GenZ visitors as they became our fastest growing demographic, with young shoppers making up 36% of total spend this year – outperforming the regional mall average of 30%.
“This rise in young shoppers comes as we continued to grow our fashion offering with both AllSaints and Animal opening flagship spaces, whilst Pizza Express and Honest Burger joined our F&B line-up.
“These signings have taken Cribbs to 99% occupancy and have cemented our position as the South West’s leading retail and leisure destination with footfall and sales surpassing industry benchmarks.
“Alongside the new arrivals, leading fashion and beauty brands have invested in new shop fits cementing Cribbs’ place as a hub for brands to test new store concepts and product ranges. This was evidenced by Topshop who selected Cribbs as one of only four destinations for its new John Lewis pop-up concept.
“These new concepts have continued our evolution into a destination for the growing young demographic visiting Cribbs. Thing young audience is continuing to grow thanks to the neighbouring Brabazon Development, which is set to deliver 6,500 homes, 2,000 student rooms, a 19,500-capacity arena, as well as the creation of 30,000 jobs, all within walking distance of Cribbs.
“As this development continues to take shape we are seeing strong occupier demand with brands eager to benefit from this young affluent shopper base. Therefore, we expect to announce more exciting new arrivals in 2026 as we continue to freshen up the Cribbs line-up.
Beth McDonald, managing director at Derbion
“The past 12 months have been a transformative time for Derbion as we announced over 215,000 sq ft of new lettings, including our landmark agreement with Primark who will be opening in 2027, as we cement our position as the premier retail and leisure destination for the East Midlands.
“Among these new arrivals Crew Clothing and Seasalt selected Derbion for their first stores in the East Midlands whilst leading brands Footlocker, Pandora, Moss, and AllSaints all invested in new store refits highlighting the confidence retailers have in Derbion and our strong customer base.
“These new arrivals and investment by current occupiers has allowed us to enhance our fashion and beauty line-ups, highlighting our progressive leasing strategy which optimises the offer from our current retailers whilst attracting exciting new brands.
“As well as enhancing retail line-ups, 2025 has continued to see retail destinations put a strong focus on growing their F&B and leisure offering, and at Derbion we are a prime example of this.
“In 2025 we introduced an innovative new padel concept and skateboarding to our former Eagle Market space whilst our food operators invested a combined £2m in their spaces in the last 2 years, to ensure Derbion continues to offer a full family-day out. This really showcased our strategy in action as we continue to evolve our retail and leisure line-up to give people more reason to plan a Derbion day out.
“With a series of new openings and leasing announcements in the pipeline, 2026 is set to be another action-packed year for Derbion. We look forward to working with our retail, leisure and F&B occupiers as they continue to invest and innovate their spaces to keep up with changing consumer needs.
“Thanks to our close relationships with our occupiers we have become the destination of choice for brands keen to experiment with new retail and leisure concepts as we grow our line-up to keep visitors coming back for more.”
Matt Slade, retail director at Quintain, London Designer Outlet
“2025 was the year when brands rediscovered the opportunities which outlet shopping brings as we welcomed a host of new brands to London Designer Outlet. Thanks to our unique location next to two of the UK’s largest sporting and entertainment venues, Gap selected LDO for its UK outlet market return, whilst Crocs, Columbia, and New Era have also signed.
“The action-packed summer events calendar at Wembley helped increase footfall and sales by 15% and 9% respectively over this period compared with 2024, as fans of Oasis, Coldplay, and Dua Lipa explored our offering before enjoying sell-out stadium concerts. The impact of Wembley also boosted our Black Friday performance as England women’s international fixture with China helped grow footfall and sales significantly.
“Alongside the new arrivals, we also agreed 34,723 sq ft of lease renewals with M&S, Boss, Kurt Geiger, Asics, ProCook, and Villeroy & Boch all investing in their spaces. These new arrivals and recommitments highlight the continued confidence occupiers have in strong performing outlet spaces.
“Wembley Park’s growing residential and student population allows us to benefit from a diverse international range of shoppers and over the past year we have reflected this in our new lettings.
“As we move into the new year, continued pressure on consumers’ disposable income has seen many turn to outlet shopping to make their finances go further. This financial anxiety has also led to more people seeking leisure and experience activities as an escape and we are certainly seeing more new entrants into this space.
“This includes the upcoming arrival of the Mundo Pixar Exhibition which opens in Wembley Park this February. This will further grow the strong family shopper audience at LDO and we hope to bring in more brands to cater for this demographic.”
Peter Everest, managing director of WD ltd, owner of Dockside at Chatham Maritime
“2025 was a bumper year for Dockside at Chatham Maritime as we continued our transformation of the scheme from a predominantly outlet scheme into a vibrant mixed-use business, retail, and leisure community.
“The past 12 months saw us evolve our F&B offering with the arrivals of Sotto Lounge, McDonald’s, Bakers + Baristas, and YouMeSushi to allow us to offer a diverse dining experience for visitors.
“With consumers placing greater importance on experiences it is important for schemes like Dockside to become all-day destinations, and this is why we have introduced more F&B offerings which fit perfectly with the leisure experiences offered by the nearby Odeon Cinema and Ninja Warrior.
“This has allowed us to tap into not only the growing Chatham community but also draw in visitors from across the region eager to try out our range of experiences.
“Meanwhile, the introduction of Barclays and Regus allows us to tap into the growing business and residential community moving into Chatham Dockside.
“For destinations like Dockside, it is important that your scheme reflects the community around you, so we have been delivering a strategic evolution in recent years to adapt to the needs of our customer base. This has seen us transform the waterfront experience so it provides more choice for the new 300-acre community.”