City rises to 6th in Retail Centre Rankings

Cardiff has moved up from 10th to 6th position in the UK’s Retail Centre Rankings in the latest report published by the Experian.  Exceeding expectations, the capital has moved ahead of Edinburgh, Leeds and Bristol – cities with much larger populations than Cardiff. The report also projects that Cardiff will be the 5th most popular retail centre in the UK by 2014, overtaking Liverpool.

Hywel Thomas a spokesperson for Cardiff & Co said, “This is excellent news for Cardiff and reflects the strength and diversity of Cardiff’s retail offer since the St David’s Dewi Sant opened just over a month ago. The difference in Cardiff’s city centre is plain for all to see, as is the increase in the number of shoppers coming into the city from outside the city-region and across the Severn Bridge.” 

He added, “Today, National Express announced that they would be providing 5,000 additional coach seats on their service from London to Cardiff to meet the additional demand brought about by the opening of the St David’s Dewi Sant. The centre complements the city’s unique Victorian and Edwardian Arcades and the existing shopping offer across the compact city-centre.”     

Guy Stephenson, Commercial Director at National Express said, “We recognise that Cardiff’s status as one of the UK’s top tourist destinations means that more people than ever want to visit the city.  It is anticipated that the new £675 million St David’s Dewi Sant, anchored by the largest John Lewis outside London, will attract an estimated 30 million annual shoppers to the city – an increase of over 3 million.”   

David Hughes-Lewis from the Cardiff Retail Partnership said, “I’m not at all surprised that Cardiff has risen to sixth position in Experian’s Retail Rankings.  The city has a polished look about it and the Hayes is back to where it was twenty-five years ago, and better, than when I first started trading in the city. Footfall is up and there’s a great atmosphere in the city centre.”

24/11/09