Landsec and retail giants celebrate surge in sales and footfall

The golden quarter lived up to its name, with UK retail showcasing a huge success during the busiest trading period of the year. Landsec reported an impressive final quarter of 2024, with more than £800m spent across its portfolio of prime retail assets, surpassing expectations and highlighting the growing consumer preference for best-in-class shopping locations. Footfall at Landsec’s sites rose by 1.9% year-on-year, in contrast to the broader market trend of a 2.5% year on year decline, reported by the British Retail Consortium. December alone saw an additional 1m visitors to Landsec’s centres, drawn by a mix of retail, F&B and leisure experiences. Bruce Findlay, managing director for retail at Landsec, said: “Following our recent acquisition of Liverpool One, we now own seven out of the top 30 performing retail destinations in the UK. “These best-in-class destinations continue to outperform external benchmarks as both brands and consumers flock to prime locations. “Attracted by new brands, the best format stores and all-day-out experiences, shoppers are choosing to spend time in prime retail spaces. With growing footfall and sales, brands are in turn investing in the very best locations.” Landsec’s results reflect a wider retail boom, with top retailers such as Tesco, Lidl, Marks & Spencer and Next also thriving during the fourth quarter. Supermarket winners Tesco posted a 3.9% increase in UK sales over the 19-week period and 4.1% growth during the six-week Christmas period. Food sales rose by 4.7%, driven by volume growth, especially in fresh food, while non-food sales (excluding toys) increased by 4%. This gave Tesco its biggest slice of the market since 2016, with value market share increasing by 78 basis points to 28.5%. The Tesco Finest range saw a 15.5% increase in sales, and online sales surged by 10.8%, increasing Tesco’s market share by 122 bps. Overall, Tesco continues to expect £2.9bn in retail adjusted operating profit for the financial year 2024/25, maintaining momentum through ongoing investments in value and quality. Lidl also pulled off an impressive trading period, welcoming more than 2m customers during four weeks of the festive period, with Monday 23 December its busiest day. The discounter exceeded £1bn in turnover during the four weeks up to Christmas Eve, with sales increasing by 7% year-on-year. Next optimistic Next also delivered a strong performance during the golden quarter, with full-price sales rising by 6% year-on-year in the nine weeks to 28 December. Overall sales grew by 5.7%, exceeding the retailer’s forecast of 3.5% growth for the period. The rise in growth added £27m to sales. Next remains optimistic for 2025, forecasting 3.5% growth in full-price sales and pre-tax profit of £1bn. Marks & Spencer capped a successful year with total UK and ROI sales in Q4 rising by 5.9% year-on-year, bolstered by standout performances across its food and clothing, home and beauty divisions. M&S Food saw an 8.7% increase in total sales, with like-for-like growth of 8.9%. The clothing, home and beauty segment posted 1% growth in total sales and 1.9% like-for-like growth. Online sales surged by 11.7%, representing 34% of total sales. The prime factor The Q4 figures vindicate Landsec’s acquisition of a 92% stake in the 1.7m sq ft Liverpool One for £490m last year. The shopping centre recorded its most successful festive shopping season since 2019, with footfall rising by 10% in December. Sales during the month also grew by 7%. The post-Christmas period was equally robust, with the centre experiencing a 26% year-on-year surge in footfall. In 2024, Liverpool One signed 22 new brands, covering 200,000 sq ft, including Zara’s new regional flagship, which is 55% larger than its previous store in the centre, Montirex’s debut physical store, and Flight Club. Looking ahead to 2025, TFG London, Sephora and Uniqlo are set to open new stores in the centre. Rob Deacon, asset management director at Liverpool ONE, said: “Achieving our best Christmas in six years is a fantastic end to another successful year for Liverpool One. “Driving our outperformance has been our commitment to providing best-in-class brands and experiences for our visitors, and that will continue in 2025 as we prepare to launch more new stores than at any point since Liverpool One opened in 2008.”