THE owner of the Braehead shopping centre has said it believes the UK economic recovery is becoming more embedded in regions outside London and the south east of England.
Intu Properties said it has seen continued improvement in demand from retailers, growing occupancy and a marginal improvement in year-on-year footfall in the period between the start of July and November.
The company also owns sites such as the Trafford Centre in Manchester and Gateshead’s Metro Centre.
Among the 84 new long term leases agreed in the quarter, which are equivalent to £18 million of new annual rent, was US-based wedding chain David’s Bridal opening only its second UK store at Braehead.
A Krispy Kreme doughnut outlet, the first in Glasgow, is soon to open adjacent to the mall.
There were also 27 rent reviews agreed in the quarter with an average increase of seven per cent.
David Fischel, Intu chief executive, said: "The economic recovery is now more obviously rippling out from London and the South East to other regions of the UK and our prime centres across the country are seeing strengthening underlying retailer sales performance.
“As this translates into improved demand for space and rising occupancy, we look forward to a return to like-for-like net rental income growth for 2015 and are well positioned for a more meaningful uplift next year.”
Intu said it continued to assess further expansion in Spain.
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