With its mixture of hight street and high end options, it’s no surprise Richmond has been named in top 10 best UK retail centres
Words Anthony Gopaul
Richmond town centre has been included in a top 10 list of the country’s best shopping destinations by a group of leading retail experts.
The town was placed seventh in the latest “vitality” rankings by property advisors Harper Dennis Hobbs, ahead of London West End, Kingston upon Thames, Westfield City and Canary Wharf.
The company studied 1,000 shopping districts across the UK and ranked them on the mix of retailers, vacancy rates and the number of shops such as bookmakers and pawnbrokers.
Jonathan De Mello, head of retail consultancy at Harper Dennis Hobbs, praised Richmond for its wide variety of retail and leisure choices.
He said, “Richmond has a lot to offer when it comes to lifestyle, entertainment and shopping. There are some big names like Whole Foods, Waitrose and House of Fraser, who are very selective about where they open stores. Richmond is a great location with lots of loyal and affluent customers.”De Mello continues to praise the area’s stability, saying, “The biggest credit I think I can pay Richmond is that it hasn’t actually seen much change, but what change it has seen has been for the good. It has survived the recession pretty much intact. Rates are still going up, but the brands it wants to attract are not being priced out, and vacant units don’t stay empty for long.”
Richmond BID Chairman, Erick Kervaon, commented, ”It’s an honour to be included in retail experts Harper Dennis Hobbs’ top 10. The fact we’ve been named amongst some of the biggest shopping districts in the country
is testament to the quality offer we have here.”
Looking to the future, Kervaon adds, “Now that BeRichmond has launched, we shall be working hard to make a great town even greater, and make sure we are one of the UK’s most desirable destinations to live, work and explore.”
