The retail sector is clearly a challenging market that has changed significantly in recent times. The fact is people still love to shop in the UK and whilst there are a lot of bad news stories with retailers closing and downsizing this is clearly part of the modernisation of this market place as it moves with shopper demands and trends.
Some retailers continue to expand though and investment in this sector, whilst cooling off somewhat, continues to take place albeit at a much slower rate. The interaction between leisure, food and retail is now prevalent more than ever with the ever expanding coffee shop and restaurant industry opening in town centres and out of town locations.
Iceni Projects leads on a number of developer and operator led proposals across the UK where there is a retail element in the scheme. We act on behalf of TJ Morris Ltd (Home Bargains) as they continue their expansion across the UK, with an aim to increase their number of stores from 400 stores to 800 stores over the next few years.
