British Land’s love of retail parks shines through with the UK commercial property giant saying its increasing move into the sector continues to pay dividends.

So much so, it has reinvested £240 million in the sector in the last few months from funds released via the £360 million half-sale of Meadowhall Shopping Centre earlier this year.

The acquisition of six “high-quality” retail parks since April come with a blended net equivalent yield of 7.4% that “will increase FY26 earnings per share by 0.7p, fully offsetting the dilution from the Meadowhall disposal”, it said.

Those six purchases include the Orchard Centre in Didcot, Cyfarthfa Shopping Park, Merthyr Tydfil, Enham Arch Retail Park, Andover, Queen’s Drive Retail Park, Kilmarnock, St David’s Retail Park Bangor; and Southampton Road Retail Park, Salisbury. In addition, British Land has also acquired the remaining 12.5% interest in New Mersey Retail Park in Speke.

Retail parks have been transformed in recent years, metamorphosing from their original supermarket and DIY store-based profile to now include strong line-ups of fashion and beauty stores as well.

Simon Carter, chief executive of British Land, said: “We are seeing good opportunities to allocate capital into retail parks. With low capex requirements, parks offer attractive cash returns and, with 99% occupancy, our portfolio is delivering strong rental growth.”

In 2021, British Land was already shifting it focus towards retail parks saying then expanding into the sector would be one of its key priorities. Since then, the move has certainly paid off with every financial report highlighting their importance in its success.

“We see a value opportunity in retail parks, reflecting increased yields and a more stable occupational outlook. We have been further encouraged by how strongly[retail park] footfall and sales have rebounded, Carter said then.

In May, Carter said: “Although the geopolitical and economic landscape remains uncertain, with a portfolio net equivalent yield over 6%, 3-5% forecast rental growth and development upside, we expect to generate attractive future returns.”