Just how successful 2024 (and Christmas) was for the UK shopping centre sector continues to ring through loud and clear as the number of positive reports accumulate. 

And it’s not just been the country’s key full-price shopping/leisure centres that have something to shout about. Joining the list are three fashion/lifestyle outlet destinations with records to report: the O2 in Greenwich, southeast of the capital; the London Designer Outlet (LDO), located at Wembley Park to the west of London, and Dalton Park Outlet on the outskirts of Murton, County Durham.

First the O2. Billed as “the world’s most popular live entertainment, leisure, and retail destination”, the the O2 has recorded its best-ever year for sales and footfall. 

“These standout results have been strengthened by significant leasing… as well as the growing importance of ‘social spending’ and reaffirm The O2’s position as a market-leading retail and leisure destination in the UK”, operators AEG Europe and Crosstree Real Estate said.

And, of course, it’s all in the numbers. The O2 welcomed over 10 million visitors in 2024, a 12% rise on 2023. Sales across retail, leisure and F&B saw an overall increase of 6%, again “marking the O2’s best-ever year for trade”.

Homing in on specifics, it finished the year 10% up on last year’s sales, with standout trading periods including Black Friday (November-1 December) sitting in the destination’s top five sale days of the year. Meanwhile, the full Black Friday week (25 November-1 December) recorded a 16% like-for-like sales uplift compared to 2023.

The records were boosted by welcoming over 31,000 sq ft of new brands in 2024, including fashion retailer All Good Things, sportswear brand Castore, and footwear specialists Clarks and Soletrader. Alongside these were several renewals for existing tenants such as beauty giant Clarins.

Leisure operators are also a growing influence in such centres, and The O2 also enjoyed growth of 8% versus last year. This was driven in part by new additions such as Activate, which launched its first UK site at the destination in 2024, as well as the openings of the Padel Social Club and Clip ‘n Climb. 

Janine Constantin-Russell, managing director of the Entertainment District and Outlet Shopping of The O2, said: “We are always bucking the national trend, whether it’s footfall, sales or general sentiment. [The] year also highlighted how important ‘social spending’ is for a destination to thrive, and as our results show, it has a significant impact across every element of our offer.”

As well as the importance of that retail and leisure combination, the success of the O2 and also of the other outlet centres we’re focusing on here, underline the importance of outlet shopping in both British and European Retail. Via Outlets, for instance, which is mainly Europe-focused, has also reported stellar results in recent years and only in November McArthurGlen (with centres in Europe, the UK and Canada) reported record-breaking sales.

Calling it the ‘Bicester Village effect” if you will, but it seems that consumers can’t get enough of discounted goods, particularly when they’re sold in high-quality, dedicated mall/village environments.
 

We’re on our way to Wembley!

 
Travel 20 miles west across London and we have more evidence of this at Quintain-owned and Multi-Realm-managed London Designer Outlet in Wembley Park, which is also celebrating a bumper 2024 “as outlet retail continues to thrive”.

The brand outlet centre reported a 5% rise in sales during 2024, including its “best Black Friday and Boxing Day ever” with over £3.4 million taken during the Christmas week alone, up 7.8% on 2023.

There was also its strongest Black Friday ever with sales increasing 12% on 2023, including £749,000 of sales during the Saturday.

That helped push 2024 sales figures up 5% to over £103 million. Nearly £1 million of sales recorded on Boxing Day was an increase of over 10% year-on-year.

The location, adjacent to Wembley Stadium, has attracted shoppers from across London and beyond throughout the last 12 months with footfall increasing 2% to over 5.4 million. Again, another sign of the importance of a leisure/retail combo.

LDO noted its strong sales and footfall figures were aided by a strong tenant mix “which reflects changing London shopper trends”. 

Over the course of the year, LDO secured 11 new lettings and relocations totalling 15,759 sq ft. This included the arrival of fashion’s French Connection and beauty/wellness brand Rituals as well as first outlet stores for fast-growing Chinese lifestyle retailer Miniso and Turkish modest fashion brand Abaci, taking their first steps into the market.

Alongside the arrival of new brands, LDO also saw continued commitment by its existing retailers with 18 brands, occupying a total 32,594 sq ft, “recommitting their futures to the scheme, and investing to upgrade and enhance their stores”. 

Matt Slade, Retail director at Quintain, said: “Outlet retail continues to be remarkably resilient thanks to the unique in-person retail experience it offers compared to online shopping. As we move into 2025, we expect outlet destinations to continue to thrive, not only due to the offer value and competitive price point our brands provide, but also the relaxed experience-led environment which online shopping does not offer.”
 

Looking North

 
Adding to the success list is Dalton Park Outlet on the outskirts of Murton, County Durham, delivering a “stellar performance” during the Christmas trading period, while “achieving significant year-on-year growth across key metrics and categories”. 

With robust footfall and strong consumer demand, the outlet reported an 11.2%
increase in Christmas week sales and a 10.4% uplift in transactions compared to the same period last year.

Dalton Park said it also experienced “exceptional performance” on key dates including a sales uplift of 19.3% versus last year on Christmas Eve. Its Boxing Day sales grew 6.7%, “building on last year’s record-breaking result of +33% vs 2022”, it noted. 

“This achievement marks Dalton Park’s “best-ever Boxing Day for sales to date. December 27 is traditionally the outlet’s busiest day, sales this year surged by an extraordinary +27% compared to 2023”, it added.

It saw standout performances across several product categories including a 57% increase for Gifts & Confectionary, 53% growth across Health & Beauty, and an 18% lift in the Sports category “demonstrating the appeal of activewear and fitness gear ahead of the new year”.

Nicky Lovell, head of Outlets and Retail Business Development at Global Mutual, said: “This year’s Christmas results are a testament to the strength of Dalton Park Outlet’s offering and the loyalty of our customers.”

These success stories support the evidence that the UK shopping centre sector overall (including full-price centres) flourished in the festive season, with MRI Software noting it topped the footfall list of places to shop in December, albeit on a month-on-month basis. The sector saw a 13.2% jump in footfall against a 5.7% rise in retail parks, while high streets only saw footfall rise by 4.8% over the comparative period.