Liverpool will grow fastest in UK

28 Nov 2007 

LIVERPOOL will enjoy the highest growth in retail spend of any city in the country over the next decade, new research predicted last night.

The Retail Market Spotlight, which follows the publication of Experian’s retail rankings for 2007, is predicting Liverpool will rise to sixth place in the league table of shopping destinations in 2017, rocketing up from its current 15th place.

It is predicting a 33.7% increase in spending in the next 10 years, by far the highest increase of any major city, the next highest being Cardiff on 16%.

The survey examined major developments and retail investments which are likely to impact on the retail sector.

It is forecasting that spending in Liverpool will soar from £1,038,088,930 this year to £1,422,199,897 in 2017, a rise of almost £400m annually.

Grosvenor’s Liverpool One development, which includes 1.6m square feet of retail space, is cited as the main catalyst for what should be a dramatic increase in the city’s popularity as a shopping destination.

But the survey also points out that Land Securities are planning major refurbishment of the Clayton Square and St John’s shopping centres.

Ed Oliver, vice-chairman of Liverpool Chamber of Commerce and head at Clayton Square, said: “This is fantastic news and a massive improvement.

“The city is going back to the position it was in the early 1970s. It used to be right up there but the city suffered from a lack of inward investment.

“The whole situation has improved with the Grosvenor development but there has also been a lot of public ground work going on in the last few years, road works and construction will all come together and next year when Grosvenor opens the retail offer will never have been so good.

“It will bring lots more people into Liverpool and in turn all retailers will benefit.

“Once people have been drawn in by Capital of Culture events they will see what the city has to offer and will come back.”

Cllr Mike Storey, Liverpool’s executive member for regeneration, added: “Experian are the most respected company in this field and they are confirming what we have been predicting when we started on the Liverpool One project – that Liverpool is set to be catapulted into the leading destinations for shoppers in the country.

“They are saying that, over the next few years, we will leapfrog Leeds, Cardiff, Newcastle and Edinburgh and other big cities and have the biggest growth of any city.

“In football terms we were hovering above the relegation zone – soon we will be challenging for a Champions League place.

“But we will not be satisfied with settling for that. We want to get into the top three or four and make Liverpool the choice for shoppers.”

Top cities in 2017

1 London West End
2 Glasgow
3 Birmingham
4 Manchester
5 Nottingham
6 Liverpool
7 Leeds
8 Cardiff
9 Newcastle
10 Edinburgh

by Liza Williams, Liverpool Daily Post

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