More retailers are set to go out of business in 2011, leaving voids in high streets and shopping centres, an expert has warned. Speaking at the World Retail Congress in Berlin, Richard Hyman, strategic adviser for Deloitte, predicted that as the country struggled economically and unemployment continued to rise, consumers would stay away from the shops. “The market is going to get worse as retail spend will be lower than this year,” he said. “We will see more retail chains going bust – whether this will be on the scale of a year and a half ago is difficult to tell. But the implications for landlords and shopping centres is that void are going to be inevitable.” Hyman said that, as the UK has too much retail footage “and too many players”, the “amazing thing is that we haven’t had more [retail chain] collapses”. He added: “What we are witnessing is UK retail reaching physical maturity” and, because the market was oversupplied, that, “it goes without saying that there are too many shopping centres, and there are some that are not in the right location.” Hyman believed the value retail market still had the potential to grow and take a bigger share of the total clothing market, but the sector would see consolidation. noella.pio.kivlehan@estatesgazette.com To access all EGi news stories and commercial property data sign up for a free trial today, or visit the subscription options page to find out more.
More retailers are set to go out of business in 2011, leaving voids in high streets and shopping centres, an expert has warned. Speaking at the World Retail Congress in Berlin, Richard Hyman, strategic adviser for Deloitte, predicted that as the country struggled economically and unemployment continued to rise, consumers would stay away from the shops. “The market is going to get worse as retail spend will be lower than this year,” he said. “We will see more retail chains going bust – whether this will be on the scale of a year and a half ago is difficult to tell. But the implications for landlords and shopping centres is that void are going to be inevitable.” Hyman said that, as the UK has too much retail footage “and too many players”, the “amazing thing is that we haven’t had more [retail chain] collapses”. He added: “What we are witnessing is UK retail reaching physical maturity” and, because the market was oversupplied, that, “it goes without saying that there are too many shopping centres, and there are some that are not in the right location.” Hyman believed the value retail market still had the potential to grow and take a bigger share of the total clothing market, but the sector would see consolidation. noella.pio.kivlehan@estatesgazette.com To access all EGi news stories and commercial property data sign up for a free trial today, or visit the subscription options page to find out more.
