Birmingham has the lowest typical retail rent among Britain's most-visited cities, while York is the most expensive, according to a new study by point-of-sale provider Epos Now.
The research examined 10 current Rightmove Commercial retail listings in the city centre of each of the 13 most-visited cities in Britain outside London, based on Visit Britain data. It used the listed monthly rent and total square footage to calculate the median rent per square foot in each city centre.
Cheapest and most expensive cities
Birmingham had the lowest typical retail rent at £1.38 per square foot per month (£16.56 a year). For the median retail unit, this would come to £38,950.43 a year. Liverpool follows with one of the cheapest rates at £1.41 per square foot per month (£16.92 a year). Nottingham, Bristol and Glasgow share third place at £1.50 per square foot per month (£18.00 a year).
York was found to be the most expensive city at £3.24 per square foot per month (£38.88 a year), which would be £47,363.55 for the median retail unit size. Edinburgh is second most expensive at £2.48 (£29.76 a year).
Value for money
Epos Now said high rents do not always mean poor value for money. To understand what retailers get for their money, the study also compared each city's median rent per square foot with its number of visitors, based on Visit Britain's latest published visitor numbers.
Edinburgh comes out as the best value of the 13 cities. Although it has the second-highest median rent at £2.48 per square foot per month, it attracts around 2.56 million visitors. Manchester follows in second place, combining a median rent of £1.67 with around 1.52 million visitors. Birmingham and Liverpool are third and fourth, with the two lowest median rents in the study (£1.38 and £1.41) and around 920,000 visitors each.
At the other end, York has the highest cost per visitor. Its median rent of £3.24 per square foot per month is the highest in the study and it has around 273,000 visitors.
Retailers await Budget
Richard Nolan, chief operating officer at Epos Now, said: "These figures show just how much location can change costs for retailers.
"A typical unit in York costs more than twice as much per square foot as one in Birmingham, which could mean the difference between roughly £38,900 and £16,600 a year for a 1,000 sq ft shop, before business rates or service charges have even been factored in.
"With the Budget approaching, many retailers will be watching closely for any change to business rates, because rent is only one part of what it costs to trade on the high street."
