Birmingham remains best outside London for shopping

21/05/08

Retailers in Birmingham are celebrating as industry figures have positioned the city as the best shopping destination in the UK outside London’s West End for the [third] consecutive year.

The CACI Retail Footprint 2008 has confirmed Birmingham’s ranking as a shopping capital, with in excess of £2 billion being spent in the city’s shops in the last 12 months, an increase of £90 million from 2007.

Alan Chatham, Chair of Retail Birmingham said:  “Birmingham deserves its ranking as the best outside London.  We have 1,000 shops in the city centre alone, including everything from designer labels and high street fashion to homeware, gifts and jewellery, and everything in between.  There are also 100 independent retailers in the city centre, making Birmingham’s shopping offer really stand out from other towns, cities and retail parks.

“The fact that the sector has seen such significant growth at a time when consumers have been becoming increasingly cautious is extremely encouraging, and Birmingham has actually enjoyed almost double the growth of London’s West End in the last year.

“Retail Birmingham was formed to manage the new Business Improvement District (BID) which went live last year.  The core objectives of the BID are to improve street operations, business support and marketing, in order to help businesses to thrive, attract more people to shop in the city and to enhance the experience for those who already do so.

“Initiatives such as the street wardens, new shopping guide to Birmingham, and high profile events such as Style in the City have all had an impact and we will continue to work with the retailers to build on the successes of the last year to maintain the city’s position as the best shopping destination in the UK outside London for years to come.”