Chesterfield named as a top UK retail hotspot
Chesterfield is one of the top retail hotspots in the East Midlands according to a recent ranking of the top 100 retail locations in the UK compiled by Property Week, a leading news magazine in the commercial and residential property market.
The Hot 100 UK Retail Locations ranking was compiled by location experts CACI exclusively for the magazine and focused on areas that have the most potential for investors.
Chesterfield appeared at number 26 in the list, ahead of major cities such as Birmingham and Leeds and just behind Manchester at 25. This is the first year that Chesterfield has featured in the industry-significant report.
Already investment in Chesterfield’s retail and leisure offering is forecast next year with the redevelopment of the former Co-op on Elder Way and construction of the first phase of the Basin Square development at Chesterfield Waterside, which will feature hotels, restaurants and retail units.
Peter Swallow, Chair of Destination Chesterfield, welcomed the report. He said: “Property Week is a significant industry publication read by national and international investors. Already there is £1bn worth of investment happening in the borough and major projects such as Peak Resort, Chesterfield Waterside and Markham Vale, however Chesterfield’s ranking as a top retail hot spot will bring the town further prominence and hopefully further increase our retail offering to residents and visitors.”
In recent years the town’s retail offering has risen to prominence amongst shoppers and investors after featuring in a report compiled by the Local Data Company (LDC) detailing the UK’s top 10 of towns and cities with the lowest shop vacancy rates.
Councillor John Burrows, leader of Chesterfield Borough Council, said: “The High Street retail world is an extremely competitive marketplace due to the changes caused by the growth of online shopping. So it is pleasing that this report demonstrates that projects taking place in Chesterfield to strengthen our retail offer, such as the Healthy High Streets initiative, are having an impact. We will to continue to work hard with all our partners to ensure we can maintain this ranking in the future.”
Peter added: “This is excellent news to round off what has been and exciting year for Chesterfield. Not only is the town’s unemployment rate below the national average for the first time since records began, but work has started on major projects which will create further jobs and opportunity in the borough, making us a very attractive prospect to potential investors.”
CACI’s research for the Hot 100 ranking took into account a combination of headroom for future investment, residential catchment size, population growth, competition and catchment demographic to highlight the 100 locations across the UK that provide the biggest opportunities to investors. The ranking also considered how the population of each area is projected to increase or fall over the next 10 years.
Also taken into account are factors such as the affluence of a population – how much potential spend there is in a catchment area, rather than just how many people it contains; the number of people who work in an area and its appeal to tourists.
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