Average size of a shop

Over the last 5 years, the average size of a retail shop in the UK is 2,010sqft (185.2sqm).

Across the entire retail sector, the average size throughout the UK of a retail shop unit is 2,010sqft in terms of deal size. The average price per square foot of those retail properties was £24.23 per sqft.

The statistics

Looking further into the data provided by EG Radius, we see a bigger picture. The average length of a lease for retail is just over 7 years, which is surprisingly positive for a sector associated with headlines of a dying high street.

The most notable lease in the last couple of years is definitely Fosse Park Shopping Centre in Leicestershire with a huge 700,000sqft take up. Of course, larger letting details raise the average and higher transacting smaller deals bring it back down, but a figure of 2,010sqft for the average retail letting deal is backed by strong data, especially with our own here at Shepherd Commercial – average deal size of 1,800sqft.

Average size of a restaurant to let or for sale

The average size of a restaurant or cafe retail unit is 2,107sqft, a figure which is slightly above the average size of a general retail store – 2,010sqft

Shopping Centres

When you talk about retail, we mustn’t gloss over the heart of retail in the UK. The shopping centre.

The average size of a shopping centre in the UK is 9,464sqft in the last five years, with the cost per square foot capital value at £412.

Just short of 10,000sqft may surprise some, but with behemoth retail stores and city centre shopping centres suffering damage in the post-covid years, it’s allowed out of town high streets and retail parks to remain resilient.

On the contrary, transactions for shopping centres have been low. Something which may be interpreted as either, the asset is strong and investors wish to keep it in their portfolio, or they are struggling to shift the asset resulting in lower transactions.

Summary

To summarise the mini blog, it’s wise to keep track of average leases, prices and sizes to stay in alignment with both your personal commercial property strategy and efficiency goals across your portfolio.

Shepherd Commercial uses in-house data along with independents such as Estates Gazette and Zoopla databases.

We assist in the acquisition, sale and management of commercial portfolios. Call us on 01564778890 or email us at info@shepcom.com