Insights Hub

Assessing The Body Shop's Portfolio

Earlier this year The Body Shop, announced that it had gone into administration, with the likelihood of mass store closures. At the time of writing 7 stores had already been closed, with more expected over the coming days and months. This blog ...

5 min Read May 3, 2024

Forecast vs. Reality: A Comparison of H1 2023 Projections and Outcomes

Vacancy Rates We anticipated the All Vacancy Rate to remain level at 14.0% to end 2023. This projection remained true, with the retail and leisure landscape having maintained a balance between economic headwinds and the recovery in consumer ...

3 min Read April 3, 2024

Growth and Decline: Exploring the Surge of Barbers and the Decline of Pubs

The latest report by the Local Data Company and Green Street covers key developments across the entire GB retail and leisure market over 2023. Our new retail and leisure research shows a spike in numbers of both closures and openings, representing ...

4 min Read April 3, 2024

Housing Growth vs. Retail Vacancy Rates: Impact assessment of housing growth on vacancy

In this latest insight blog, we explore the relationship between housing growth and retail vacancy rates, utilising data from Edge Analytics. Based on the period of 2017-2022, we took the five local authorities with the highest percentage housing ...

3 min Read March 6, 2024

Revisiting Oxford Street: A Year of Change and Renewal

One year on from our blog detailing the historic trends on Oxford Street, LDC has revisited the latest data to investigate what has changed since 2023 and discuss what we can expect to see from this key shopping street in the future.

5 min Read February 27, 2024

Exploring Occupancy Trends: Insights into GB Shopping Centres

Despite shopping centres having the highest vacancy rates out of any location type, the number of shopping centres fully occupied across GB has been increasing since 2022. Whilst percentages are relatively low, the number of shopping centres at full ...

5 min Read February 12, 2024

GB Vacancy Rates Hold Steady, Retail Parks Reach Highest Occupancy Since 2019

In Q4 2023, the overall GB vacancy rate holds at 14.0%, which has remained unchanged from Q3 and 0.2 percentage points higher than the same period last year. Geographically, the highest rates were in the North East, though a slight improvement from ...

2 min Read January 30, 2024

Knight Frank: Providing insights across the office, senior living, and residential (BTR) sectors

Over the past 127 years, Knight Frank has evolved into a global leader in real estate consultancy. Recognising the complex interplay between residential and commercial sectors, Knight Frank’s application of LDC data extends beyond the retail and ...

3 min Read January 29, 2024

A Tale of Two Towns

After a decade of data on the entire GB retail market, we delve into the transformation of two comparable seaside towns: Margate and Ramsgate. In 2012, Margate won £100,000 as part of a government-funded effort to revive Britain's declining high ...

4 min Read January 26, 2024

High streets: A decade in review

In our final chapter in our Then & Now series chronicling the change in retail and leisure over the past decade our focus turns to high street. LDC has reviewed how the make-up of GB High Streets has changed over ten years, looking specifically ...

5 min Read December 19, 2023

Robert Smith: Co-founder of Slick a digital salon management and bookings platform on hair and beauty trends

Robert Smith is the co-founder and chief commercial officer of Slick, a digital salon management and bookings platform for the hair and beauty industry. We spoke to Robert about hair and beauty trends, the findings from our H1 2023 analysis, and how ...

4 min Read November 8, 2023

The Supermarket Opportunity Index: comparing supermarket supply statistics with population density forecasting

Edge Analytics’ latest population forecasts* have been matched against LDC’s rich POI data on supermarkets across the country to create our own Supermarket Opportunity Index, a tool to identify areas of undersupply— representing future opportunity— ...

2 min Read November 6, 2023

Shopping centres, then and now: 2013-2023

With a decade of proprietary data on the entire GB retail market, we have been able to analyse the changing performance of the country’s shopping centres. Our findings reveal significant shifts in the shopping centre landscape, driven by changing ...

3 min Read October 31, 2023

Going digital: the move to online-only retail

As online retail remains a dominant force in many categories, most of the occupiers who have retained their physical estate have trimmed it down considerably, focusing on large flagships and experiential ‘showrooms’ as part of a coherent omnichannel ...

2 min Read October 27, 2023

Key trends in FMCG and convenience: a Local Data Company review

In recent years, the FMCG and convenience industries have weathered the pandemic-driven upheaval— and even seized on the opportunities it presented. In this blog, we delve into some of the key trends in the GB convenience sector using our vast ...

2 min Read October 23, 2023

Experience, community, storytelling: a roundup of LDC's 27th Retail and Leisure Trends Summit

Hosted by NatWest at their London Bishopsgate Conference Centre for the second year running, our 27th Retail and Leisure Trends Summit took place last Thursday, the 21st of September.

3 min Read September 28, 2023

Grosvenor: supporting strategic decision-making with in-depth data science

Understanding the primary drivers of real estate success is more crucial than ever in today’s commercial property market. The research team at Grosvenor oversee high-level strategic insights, helping the company to understand current and potential ...

2 min Read September 25, 2023

Out now: our 2023 Retail and Leisure Trends Analysis Report

1 min Read September 21, 2023

Interview with Richard Lambert, Chief Executive, National Hair & Beauty Federation

HOW DO NHBF USE THE DATA FROM LDC?

5 min Read September 18, 2023

Rebecca Morter, Founder and CEO of Lone Design Club on digital and physical presence and challenges in the fashion industry

Rebecca Morter is the founder and CEO of Lone Design Club, a disruptive omnichannel retail start-up. Launched in 2018, Lone Design Club offers a unique shopping experience, providing brands with a direct route to market, online and offline. LDC's ...

6 min Read September 7, 2023

David Scott, Head of Consumer Industries, on current trends, challenges and causes for optimism in the retail industry

For the second year in a row, NatWest will host our Retail and Leisure Trends Summit taking place in London this September. As NatWest's Head of Consumer Industries, David Scott supports customers and businesses across the retail, leisure and food ...

5 min Read August 31, 2023

Ronald Nyakairu, Head Of Insight & Analytics at LDC, on current retail trends, international brands, and potential challenges for H2 2023.

As LDC's Head of Insight & Analytics, Ronald Nyakairu works with our clients across a wide range of sectors, from retail and property to local government and academia. His contributions have been featured in several publications, and he is a ...

7 min Read August 14, 2023

Phil Mickler, COO at ME+EM, on the value of omnichannel retail, knowing your customer, and data-led decision-making

Founded in 2009, ME+EM is a direct-to-consumer womenswear brand offering luxury fashion without the luxury price tag. The brand’s core philosophy centres on their ‘Three Fs’— flattering, functional and forever— creating flattering yet practical ...

5 min Read August 7, 2023

Eurofund Group's UK CEO, Alberto Esguevillas, on the acquisition of Silverburn and future trends in retail & leisure

Alberto Esguevillas is the UK CEO of Eurofund Group. Operating across Spain, Portugal, the UK and Italy, the group first established themselves as experts in creating retail destinations, although they have since expanded into other sectors. In ...

6 min Read July 31, 2023

Retail parks: a ten-year review

We have previously commented on the long-term resilience of GB retail parks, which have historically seen lower vacancy rates than other location types, even weathering the pandemic well compared to high streets and shopping centres.

4 min Read July 19, 2023

The role of location in sustainable retail strategy

Consumers, shareholders and governments are— rightly— focused on environmental and social responsibility. Especially given the climate effects we are already seeing, it is more important than ever that we work towards making our impact on the planet ...

3 min Read June 28, 2023

LDC’s Lunch and Learn session with British Land

Recently, we were fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to host a Lunch and Learn session with employees at British Land, where we shared our latest research on retail occupancy and vacancy trends.

3 min Read June 19, 2023

Richmond and Wandsworth Council: using bespoke data to shape strategy and engagement

Richmond and Wandsworth Council have been working with LDC to inform their Night Time Strategy, and support future applications for funding and interventions towards improvements. They used a bespoke dataset from us alongside their internal data to ...

2 min Read April 5, 2023

British Library: supporting the future of the retail sector with an online insights platform for everyone

As the UK’s national library, and one of the largest in the world, the British Library is an academic and cultural landmark. As well as receiving copies of every book produced in the UK and Ireland, it welcomes researchers on every subject ...

2 min Read March 30, 2023

Savills: Supporting forensic examination of retail locations with micro-level insights

Savills was founded in the UK in 1855. Today, it is an internationally-renowned property agency with offices all over the world. Savills provides a broad range of services including expert investment advice, valuations, property management and ...

2 min Read March 29, 2023

Out now: our 2022 GB retail and leisure market analysis

Our latest Local Data Company retail and leisure trends report, covering the GB market over 2022, releases today. Key findings include:

2 min Read March 14, 2023

H1 2022 Retail & Leisure Trends: Public Sector

Please complete the below form to access the H1 2022 Retail & Leisure Trends Public Sector presentation. Following the release of our H1 2022 retail and leisure trends report, LDC Business Development Manager Katie Girdwood and Head of Insight ...

1 min Read October 12, 2022

Profitability, people and the planet: a roundup of LDC's 26th Retail & Leisure Trends Summit

The Local Data Company's 26th Retail & Leisure Trends Summit marked our first in-person event since 2019, hosted in partnership with NatWest at their London Bishopsgate Conference Centre on the 22nd September.

2 min Read September 27, 2022

Out now: our H1 2022 analysis on the GB retail and leisure market

The latest Local Data Company retail and leisure trends report, covering market activity over the first half of 2022, is out today. Key findings include:

2 min Read September 22, 2022

Landsec: Using real-time data to understand the current market and support agile asset strategy

As one of the UK’s leading commercial property development and investment companies, Landsec creates places that make a lasting positive contribution to our communities and our planet. Their portfolio spans 24 million sq. ft of retail, leisure, ...

3 min Read July 28, 2022

Lambeth Council: Leading the way with an intelligence-based approach to place management and covid recovery

Lambeth Council started working with the Local Data Company in 2020 as part of its focus on an intelligence-based approach to place management as part of their emergency response to the Covid-19 pandemic. This involved utilising Local Data Company’s ...

2 min Read July 27, 2022

Five years on the high street: 2016- 2021

0 min Read July 5, 2022

Out now: LDC's latest analysis on 2021

LDC's latest report is out today and provides an update on the impact of market activity across 2021. Key findings from this report include:

2 min Read March 17, 2022

The road to retail recovery: are we there yet? Webinar

1 min Read February 17, 2022

GB cities most impacted by the 10pm curfew

0 min Read November 9, 2021

GB town recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic

0 min Read November 9, 2021

Mother's Day gifts

0 min Read November 9, 2021

Boozy Britain: the best cities to go out-out

0 min Read November 9, 2021

Retail & leisure trends FY 2019

0 min Read November 9, 2021

Retail & leisure trends H1 2019

For more information on how the market changed over H1 2019, download the full report for free here.

0 min Read November 9, 2021

Do we have too much retail stock?

0 min Read November 9, 2021

How did the physical retail and leisure landscape change over 2018?

*Multiples include all brands with five or more units nationally.

0 min Read November 9, 2021

Retail & leisure trends H1 2018

Last month, we released a report looking at key trends across the retail and leisure landscape for the first six months of this year. For those that didn't have time to read the full report, we have produced an infographic of the key details you ...

0 min Read November 9, 2021

The fashion report- 2018

Last month, we released a report detailing the long-term and short-term trends across the fashion landscape in the UK. For those that didn't have time to read the full report, we have produced an infographic of the key details you need to know from ...

0 min Read November 9, 2021

Retail & leisure trends 2017/2018

"It has been widely acknowledged that UK retail is going through a turbulent period, with consumer fundamentals such as consumer confidence decreasing and disposable income stable but slower than inflation in 2017. The labour market remained robust ...

1 min Read November 9, 2021

Supermarkets, discounters and convenience stores 2012-2017

"Across GB the state of the grocery market is one of a changing landscape, with the previously clear divisions between supermarkets, convenience stores and discounters becoming blurred. Convenience stores are becoming more and more like ...

1 min Read November 9, 2021

Retailing in Wales' towns and cities

The latest report by the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research, Data and Methods (WISERD) and LDC looks at the general health and emerging trends in retail across Welsh towns and cities in 2017. The report is presented in four sections ...

1 min Read November 9, 2021

Retailing in Scotland's largest towns and cities

The latest report by the Institute for Retail Studies - University of Stirling and LDC looks at the latest retail health and trends across Scotland's towns and cities. The report is presented in three sections focusing in turn on retail premises, ...

1 min Read November 9, 2021

24th Retail and Leisure Trends Summit

Our next summit, 'The road to retail recovery: are we there yet?' features our full year 2021 analysis and will take place on Thursday the 17th of March at 3pm. Find out more and register at ...

1 min Read November 9, 2021

Maximise the impact of funding and measurement for councils and BIDs

1 min Read November 9, 2021

23rd Retail & Leisure Trends Summit FY 2020

1 min Read November 9, 2021

22nd Retail & Leisure Trends Summit H1 2020

1 min Read November 9, 2021