Fit for a princess

“It’s like shopping in London,” said one happy shopper outside department store Debenhams at the Princesshay shopping centre in Exeter. “We’ve never had so many good shops before; we’ve always had to travel to get this type of offer.”

Such sentiments were echoed among the crowd on the opening day of Land Securities’ 530,000 sq ft (49,240 sq m) Princesshay scheme last month. While not a Bluewater in terms of its size, the scheme has attracted several new retailers to Exeter and extended the retail pitch.

And the crowd seemed to be pleased. Many of the shoppers were surprised at the range of shops on offer and hoards of girls were banging down the door of Topshop before the staff inside had managed to put away all the vacuum cleaners. “We’ve always had a Topshop, but this one is amazing,” said one eager shopper.

Land Securities has pulled in 35 new retailers to Exeter, including All Saints, Apple, Jane Norman, Karen Millen, LK Bennett, Neal’s Yard Remedies, Reiss and USC. “Our plan was to bring as many new retailers to the city as possible,” says Land Securities leasing director John Grimes. “While some retailers that were in the city already, such as New Look and Topshop, inevitably wanted to upsize, we brought in as many new names as we could.”

The emphasis was also on attracting more upmarket brands. “We could have easily filled the scheme with mainstream retailers, but we wanted to elevate the offer and pull in aspirational retailers,” explains Grimes. “Exeter has a lot of wealthy areas and these shoppers travel quite far to get their fix of retailers. Hopefully now they don’t have to go anywhere.”

He points to retailers such as Reiss, LK Bennett and Karen Millen as aspirational retailers. “We needed to give Exeter the fashion retailers it deserves and we were confident that the scheme had to be aspirational in order for it to attract not only shoppers from the city, but further afield,” says Grimes.

As part of this image, Land Securities reserved an area of the£225 million scheme for independent retailers. It comprises 14 units, which are located mainly along the City Wall. “Exeter and the Southwest has always been strong in terms of independent retailers and we didn’t want to leave them out of our scheme,” says Grimes. “They give it a point of difference and add another dimension to the shopping experience. And the interest was phenomenal. After we started marketing the independent retailer part of the scheme, we had 450 enquiries from hopeful businesses.”

The independent retailers include fashion boutique AH Moda, local furniture and home accessories retailer Orange Tree, womenswear designer Caroline Charles and niche retailers such as Neal’s Yard Remedies, Ringtons and florist Stem.

Land Securities has been flexible with its leases in order to secure good-quality independents. “We have helped out some with the shopfit and they are all on turnover-based rents for the first five years,” says Grimes.

AH Moda founder Nigel Browne says he was looking for a second site for his retail business in the Southwest after having traded in Bath successfully for several years. “We looked at our database and found that about 10 per cent had Exeter or nearby postcodes, so it seemed a perfect city for us,” he says. “We hadn’t considered being in a shopping scheme though and it was only when we sat down with Land Securities that we started to believe it could work.”

LEAP OF FAITH
Browne explains that Land Securities gave him the flexibility to invest in the store and that it runs the scheme as a partnership, not just a business venture. “It was a leap of faith to put the independent retailers in with the big boys, but we see the benefit for us and them. We’ve signed a 15-year lease, so are confident in the location. On opening day we achieved our target for the day by 11am and have already seen many of our regular customers who are excited we have opened here.”

The scheme is anchored by Debenhams and Next, both of whom have upsized. “Our store is 40 per cent bigger than the previous one, which has meant we can get in so many more concessions,” says Debenhams sales director for the Southwest Simon Dales. “We’ve introduced, for example, our Ted Baker range for children, and footwear brand Dune. The storefit is modern and clean and showcases everything that is good about Debenhams.”

The restaurant element is also key to Princesshay. There are delis such as Chandos dotted around the scheme, but the primary catering focus is the European-styled piazza, Princesshay Square. Using the backdrop of Exeter’s 12th century cathedral, the piazza houses restaurants such as La Tasca, Giraffe, Strada and Café Rouge.

The cathedral was central to the plan for Princesshay. Land Securities development director Nick Davis says: “The cathedral had to be at the centre of any development because it is the most prominent building in the city. We needed to make sure that any development respected the heritage of the cathedral and complemented its style.”

The Princesshay scheme was developed as a streetscape with views of the cathedral practically wherever you stand. “We wanted the feel of the scheme to be facing the cathedral, so as you walk around Princesshay you get different views of this fantastic building,” says Davis.

Land Securities has done well in letting the scheme and making sure it fits in with Exeter’s heritage. It sits in a wealthy catchment and also has a strong student population. It will surely pull in shoppers from a wide area with its diverse mix of retail and has stolen a march on other nearby developments such as Bristol and Cardiff.

Princesshay Exeter: key facts

Cost£200 million

530,000 sq ft (49,240 sq m) of shops, leisure, apartments and restaurants

390,000 sq ft (36,230 sq m) of retail

Anchor stores are Debenhams and Next

270-space multi-storey car park, on the corner of Paris Street and Southernhay, with more than 240 additional car parking spaces at the Summerland Gate site

30 parking spaces for the disabled

Scheme combines the cathedral, medieval Almshouses and City Wall

Development includes a tourist information centre with a new heritage centre providing access to the Underground Passages

Integrates with the existing high street

Princesshay Square is the main destination for restaurants

123 apartments provide one, two and three bedroom units

Four permanent public art commissions are included in the scheme

Accessibility is via a road network including the M5, A38, A30 and A377. This catchment includes 1.1 million residents with annual comparison goods expenditure of£2.6 billion

High percentage of affluent grey and secure families

New retailers to Exeter are AH Moda, All Saints, Apple, Carol Anne, Caroline Charles, Chandos, Coast, Crabtree & Evelyn, Crew, Cult, Exeshed, Faith, Giraffe, Hobbs, Hotel Chocolat, Insideout, Jane Norman, Karen Millen, La Senza, La Tasca, LK Bennett, Molton Brown, Nando’s, Neal’s Yard Remedies, Orange Tree, Parchment, Reiss, Ringtons Tea & Coffee, Rose Opticians, Schuh, Stem, Strada, USC, Wagamama, Zara

Architects are Chapman Taylor, Panter Hudspith and Wilkinson Eyre

Letting agents are Savills, Alder King and DTZ