I’m today – 13 April – publishing the latest City Centre Management survey of vacant City Centre retail units (survey completed on 4 April).

It’s worth starting with the facts…

• We now have 43 empty retail units in the City Centre.
• The percentage of retail units empty in Exeter currently stands at 6.91%.
• Of the 16 City Centre areas for which vacancies are listed, 8 areas are showing the same vacancy rates as contained in the February vacancy survey and 2 areas are showing fewer vacancies than in the February survey.
• Of the 16 City Centre areas for which vacancies are listed, 5 areas are showing no vacancies at all.
• The Exeter percentage vacancy rate compares very favourably with the current national average running at around 14%.

A breakdown of the number of vacant City Centre retail units is set out below…

The economic climate remains challenging – a position underlined by the recent British Retail Consortium survey showing a national drop in like-for-like sales during March. The difficulties being faced by several national retail chains are well documented and Exeter remains at risk from the on-going challenges to the UK economy. I remain very buoyant however about the short, medium and long-term prospects for Exeter City Centre.

We’re continuing to deliver City Centre environmental improvements, in spite of the tough financial pressures faced by the public sector, and these improvements will deliver real benefits for City Centre businesses. We’re continuing to see new names arriving in the City Centre and significant investment from businesses already here. We’re seeing investment enquiries that I’m confident will translate in to further new names coming in to the City Centre over the coming twelve months. We’re seeing momentum building behind the case for an Exeter Business Improvement District and I’m increasingly confident that businesses will vote yes to a BID this Summer – ensuring that so many more of our ideas for driving the City Centre forward will be achievable in the future than are achievable right now.

We’re working really hard to maintain the momentum of change and renewal so essential to ensuring that the City Centre success story continues. The latest store to announce that they’re planning to open in Exeter – Urban Outfitters – currently only has 16 stores in the UK. Urban Outfitters investment in Exeter shows real confidence in the City and real confidence in the strategy for future City Centre change and renewal.

John Harvey

City Centre Manager

13 April 2011