By Brian Lavery, Managing Director, CBRE NI
While recent commentary has had to address some of the difficulties faced by the commercial real estate market in Northern Ireland, one of the most resilient sectors throughout this period has been the out-of-town retail park market.
Our latest CBRE NI research, published just last month, revealed that retail parks are strongly outperforming the broader retail market in terms of footfall. Over the last year, wage growth has outpaced inflation, which has slightly increased consumer disposable income, leading to some indicators suggesting recovery – although this confidence does remain volatile.
Some retailers benefit from this environment, but it is uneven. Essential and value-based retail – particularly in out-of-town retail parks – have proven to remain resilient when spending tightens, especially where retail parks can provide a cohesive omnichannel retail experience that provides access to a good range of food and beverage outlets and other channel segments, such as ‘click and collect’. Online retail has now returned to its pre-Covid 19 pandemic trends and, in May 2025, 27.2% of the total sales were on online platforms.
In retail park locations, retailers will increasingly incorporate online retailing into their physical stores, including collection and return points which drive more footfall in store as a result. The park locations can, of course, provide adequate parking for this use. Due to these factors, and the growth of convenience shopping, retail parks have witnessed strong levels of tenant demand with retailers such as Home Bargains being particularly active.
Discount food retailer Lidl has also focused on retail parks, whilst there is further demand from homeware retailers such as Dunelm. Within the leisure sector, meanwhile, Pure Gym and the Gym Group continue to seek new store openings.
Associated with the retail parks is the Food & Beverage provision, and there remains strong demand from brands such as Costa, McDonald’s, KFC, Burger King and new entrants such as Popeyes, Wingstop, Slim Chickens and Chick-fil-A.
The popularity of retail parks among occupiers has resulted in very high occupancy rates, with our research across 40 parks in Northern Ireland showing average occupancy at 96%. The national average occupancy of retail parks across the UK is in the region of 94% which, to some extent, details a lack of supply and a reason why these parks are now very attractive to investors. With high demand and limited supply, we are starting to see rental growth in many locations.
With a focus on affordability and convenience, regional retail parks are well positioned to benefit from sustained demand throughout 2025 and beyond.
In-town shopping centre retail continues to face pressures, with the fact that both River Island and Poundland are restructuring underlining that there are still challenges to be faced. However, Donegall Place is one prime Belfast city centre area that is now nearing full occupancy, while the recent opening of the Rolex flagship store at Queen’s Arcade provides a luxury brand offering not seen in Belfast before.
Looking ahead, the key for both landlords and occupiers will be adaptability. As consumer behaviour evolves and multi-channel strategies become the norm, those who invest in experience, infrastructure and data-led decision-making will be best placed to thrive. Out-of-town retail has shown its resilience – now it has the opportunity to lead the next phase of retail evolution across Northern Ireland.
This article was originally published in The Irish News