Recentering

Helping you transform shopping centre assets

We believe shopping centres have a critical and powerful role to play in the future and prosperity of our towns, cities and communities – and their role is evolving to best meet this future.

Town centres have always evolved to meet the needs of their community, and the rise of shopping centres and the changing face of retail in the latter part of the 20th century was a key part of that evolution. Together with banks, shops and cultural and civic institutions, they have been the lifeblood of many town centres. They served as a gathering place for local people, a source of revenue for businesses, and a destination for shoppers.

In recent years, shopping centres have faced significant challenges as consumer habits have shifted and online shopping has become prevalent across several retail categories. With long-term trends accelerated and compounded by the Covid-19 pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis accelerating the change, owners, managers and operators are looking at a number of options for the future. Shopping centres are valuable assets both in financial and impact on town centres - doing nothing and hoping for the best is not an option, and owners and asset managers are reviewing how they can move towards a genuinely sustainable shopping centre of the future. Sustainability will include environmental issues, but also prioritise economic, structural, regulatiory technological and operational sustainability which has the flexibility to reflect market change in the future.

From changing the asset management focus towards experience and partnership with retailers, through adaptation and re-thinking the design and layout, diversifying usage, and driving value from the non-retail space to partial or full demolition and rebuilding, each shopping centre and town will have a different way forward.

Local authorities are facing similar questions on how they can support the evolution of town centres in a way which supports the wider community and the significance of shopping centres as a tool for placemaking cannot be underestimated. There is a clear opportunity for public and private sectors to work together to provide more inclusive, diverse spaces that reinvigorate the local economy, put shopping centres back at the heart of the local community and evoke a placemaking step change in our town centres.

HOW CAN WE HELP?