Market Square ‘sixth most expensive retail location’

Manchester's Market Square has moved up two positions as one of the most expensive retail locations in the UK, according to a new survey by Cushman & Wakefield.

Within the real estate adviser's Main Streets Across the World report, Cushwake said Market Square saw a 3.8% drop in rental values during the last year, to £250/sq ft.

Although described as Market Square in the survey, Cushwake has confirmed to Place that the retail location is Market Street in Manchester.

The survey said most shopping streets outside London recorded a drop in rental values, meaning Market Square is now joint sixth as the most expensive along with High Street in Birmingham, Buchanan Street in Glasgow, Commercial Street in Leeds and Northumberland Street in Newcastle. Market Street was ranked eighth position in 2010.

Of the top 10 UK shopping streets ranked in the Cushwake's survey, half recorded rental increases and three saw falls in rental values over the year to June. This compares with four locations registering rises in rent and five recording rental declines last year.

The report's ten most expensive UK shopping streets in 2011 include:

Robert Alston, partner in Cushman & Wakefield's Birmingham office, said: "Whilst demand for prime units in Birmingham city centre remains reasonably strong the former prime locations such as High Street, New Street and Corporation Street have seen significant reductions in rentals to achieve lettings. Bullring is now unquestionably the main fashion pitch in Birmingham city centre and the recent openings of Forever 21 and Hollister has reinforced the centre as the location where fashion retailers need to be represented. Lettings have been achieved on High Street to the likes of Currys.digital, Barclays Bank and Orange but rental values have had to fall to achieve these and incentives are still reasonably attractive."

The Main Streets Across the World report provides a barometer of the global retail market, tracking rents in the top 278 shopping locations across 63 countries. It includes a ranking, produced using the most expensive location in each of the countries.

Despite a rental increase of 4.3%, London's New Bond Street dropped two rankings, from fourth to sixth, in the survey's top 10 world's most expensive shopping streets. The UK street falls behind Avenue des Champs-Elysées in Paris which is now the most expensive retail location in Europe, according to the survey, having registered a rental uplift of 5.3%, compared with a decrease of 9.5% last year.

The survey said Fifth Avenue in New York, USA, is the most expensive shopping street in the world with a rental increase of 21.6%.