Retail in Yorkshire: Can the region become England’s No.1 shopping destination? 

Throughout May and June, I’ll be running a weekly feature on the retail sector in the Yorkshire and Humber area to determine if the region can be regarded as a major competitor against the country’s other prime shopping destinations.

Over the course of this year, I have noticed that Yorkshire is currently experiencing an influx in the retail sector, especially in Leeds and Sheffield, with several major developments and retailers currently moving to the region in the not-too-distant future.

Furthermore, there has been a significant increase in smaller retailers, from local clothing stalls to startup companies, thus proving that Yorkshire is also fastly becoming a hub for budding and innovative entrepreneurs.

However, during this week’s addition I aim to look at the retail sector as a whole in the region, and find out why shoppers are attracted to Yorkshire’s shopping scene all year round.

One significant reason for this is that there is an abundance of large and diverse retail centres throughout the region, among these are Sheffield’s Meadowhall, the York Designer Outlet, Leeds’ Trinity and Victoria Quarter, which are both located in the city centre.

To further establish the sheer size of Yorkshire’s retail sector, the National Guidance Research Forumreported that 236,849 people are employed in retail throughout the region, which accounts for nearly 10% of the total retail workforce in England.

From what I have seen over the last several months, this figure is only going to increase as more and more retailers are moving to the area, such as international luxury eyewear brand Cutler and Gross, which is expected to open a 900 sq ft store in Leeds’ Victoria Quarter this coming summer.

Furthermore, the prestigious Grade II listed Victorian building is also the new home to luxury maternity brand Séraphine, which chose yorkshire as the destination of its first store outside of London.

One of the biggest shakeups of 2015 in the region’s retail sector occurred just two months ago when Hammerson plc, a London-based property development and investment company,sold Drakehouse Retail Park in Sheffieldto 90 North Real Estate Partners LLP for £61.7m.

Located seven miles southeast of Sheffield city centre, Drakehouse is the steel city’s largest retail park at 21,000 m2, and is fully let with current tenants including Homebase, Currys, Wickes and B&M. In addition there is an 830 space car park.

Yorkshire and the humber is already an established retail destination, but as for the future, the region is vastly growing in the sector and could soon become the No.1 spot for shoppers and retailers alike.

In next week’s addition I will be tapping into smaller Yorkshire retailers, and why this region is so appealing to set up a business. So if you run a retail business in Yorkshire and the Humber, or you work with any in the region, get in touch with me direct at nick.hill@bdaily.co.uk.

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