Data: Britain's 50 most vibrant retail locations

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Cambridge has toppled a host of London locations to be named the best-quality retail location in the UK.

Top50retail centres

The city beat the likes of Westfield London, Knightsbridge, Chelsea and Bluewater to the top spot in the Harper Dennis Hobbs 2017 Vitality Index.

Rank	Location	Vitality score	Market size (weighted retail expenditure)	Change since 2014
1	Cambridge	902	£1,513,016,237	6
2	Westfield London	895	£2,192,438,446	-1
3	Knightsbridge	876	£633,482,231	0
4	Chelsea	875	£764,265,134	-2
5	Bluewater	869	£1,946,420,654	3
6	Wimbledon Village	863	£88,843,941	New entry
7	Richmond	862	£404,623,870	0
8	Canary Wharf	860	£368,953,691	-3
9	Marlborough	858	£113,319,198	New entry
10	Bath	857	£1,328,625,901	2
11	Sloane Street	855	£206,106,322	New entry
12	Westfield Stratford	855	£1,765,198,912	5
13	Reigate	853	£131,328,606	New entry
14	London West End	850	£9,141,226,044	2
15	St Albans	846	£507,678,384	7
16	Berkhamsted	846	£113,697,055	New entry
17	Edinburgh	845	£2,346,843,910	5
18	Kingston upon Thames	842	£2,107,118,547	0
19	Cobham	840	£101,534,296	New entry
20	Cribbs Causeway	840	£1,126,748,715	1
21	Chiswick	839	£253,761,350	11
22	Brighton	839	£1,902,344,776	6
23	Harrogate	838	£826,855,386	3
24	Guildford	834	£1,385,378,494	-7
25	Henley-on-Thames	833	£206,782,026	New entry
26	Bristol – Clifton	833	£117,811,673	New entry
27	Sherborne	831	£114,903,538	New entry
28	Meadowhall	827	£1,741,402,629	4
29	Ilkley	826	£174,778,586	New entry
30	Sevenoaks	826	£193,322,362	8
31	Chichester	826	£717,782,616	0
32	Islington - Upper Street	824	£501,574,370	-6
33	Kensington	823	£685,114,699	-14
34	Birmingham	822	£3,738,666,154	31
35	Leeds	822	£3,180,292,167	4
36	Muswell Hill	821	£142,886,468	New entry
37	Tenterden	819	£103,728,550	New entry
38	Glasgow	818	£4,260,877,222	30
39	Marlow	814	£174,047,714	7
40	Fulham Road	813	£213,427,596	New entry
41	Wilmslow	813	£197,659,173	2
42	St Ives (Cornwall)	813	£97,121,316	New entry
43	Chester	812	£1,678,594,102	-4
44	Hampstead	811	£89,398,650	1
45	Trafford Centre	810	£1,851,676,699	-12
46	York	810	£1,396,532,968	4
47	Liverpool	810	£3,102,829,857	0
48	Oxford	809	£1,478,546,453	-10
49	Lakeside	807	£1,633,327,360	-3
50	Holborn	807	£171,628,390	New entry

The index sets out to measure the quality of retail locations by assessing factors such as the shop vacancy rate, how well the retail mix has been adapted to fit the needs of the local community and the proportion of ‘undesirable’ shops such as pawnbrokers and bookmakers.

After scoring each location based on those variables, Cambridge notched 902 out of a possible 1,000, edging out Westfield London – which came top of Harper Dennis Hobbs’ inaugural index three years ago – by just seven points.

Bluewater jumped three places to break into the top five, while new entry Wimbledon Village was a new entry in sixth place.

Expanded ranking

Wimbledon Village was one of 500 new locations to make the list after Harper Dennis Hobbs expanded the ranking to assess a total of 1,000 locations with more than 40 multiples, ranging from local high streets to regional shopping malls and major city centres.

Retail parks and outlet centres were excluded from the list, as their out of town locations mean that they are “not intrinsically linked to the local area,” Harper Dennis Hobbs said.

Although London destinations continue to dominate the upper echelons of the list, Marlborough and Bath broke into the top 10, while Birmingham (34th) and Glasgow (38th) were the most improved cities, rocketing 31 and 30 places respectively off the back of new retail developments.

Brent Cross plunged out of the top 50 as a result of the preparation for works to modernise and expand the centre, while Kensington slipped out of the top 20.

‘Undesirables’ and value stores

Harper Dennis Hobbs said other areas suffered due to an increase in the presence of “downmarket” stores.

The commercial estate agency said there had been a 2.7% increase in the proportion of value stores in centres of the past five years, in addition to a 1.6% increase in the proportion of “undesirable” shops.

Harper Dennis Hobbs head of retail consultancy, Jonathan De Mello, says: “This ranking highlights the ‘healthiest’ retail centres in Britain, which successful brands should target when considering network expansion.

“Smaller centres are of increasing interest to retailers, given rents are often highest in the largest centres. So a small centre with a high vitality score – and the right shopper profile – could potentially yield strong profits.”

Harper Dennis Hobbs executive director of retail, James Ebel, adds: “With an increase in online retailing, many of our clients, especially those from North America, now want to consider why they should enter a market rather than how many stores they should have.

“For this purpose, it’s important to know not only who trades in a retail centre, but how many are vacant and whether the market captures their customer profile.

“This ranking, with some bespoke criteria included, can be an important tool for retailers looking to expand their store portfolio.”

Methodology

The Harper Dennis Hobbs Vitality Index ranks all retail centres in Britain by quantifying the ‘retail health’ of each centre.

This year’s Index has been expanded from 500 locations to 1,000, measuring vitality through a number of variables: the proportion of up-market shops, the proportion of value-led shops, the vacancy rate and the proportion of ‘undesirable’ shops – such as pawnbrokers, money lenders, and bookmakers.

Greater scores are also given to areas whose retail mix has been adapted to the local community, while locations whose offer has deteriorated have been penalised.