This year’s flagship report, Going Shopping 2019, once again ranked schemes above 50,000 sq ft by overall attractiveness to shoppers, retailers and investors.

The leading letting agent remains to be Lambert Smith Hampton. The remaining top five are made up of Savills, CBRE, Cushman & Wakefield and Colliers International.

The leading managing agent is still Lambert Smith Hampton who recorded more than double the amount of points of CBRE who remained in second place. Savills secured third spot with Osborne King and Cushman & Wakefield taking fourth and fifth place respectively.

The review was first published in 1998 and Lambert Smith Hampton have been ranked both the leading letting agent and leading managing agent in Northern Ireland since the detailed regional analyses were first introduced seven years ago.

Victoria Square has retained its title as the leading shopping centre in Northern Ireland, a position it has now held for eight years, according to Trevor Wood Associates’ Going Shopping 2019 – The Definitive Guide to Shopping Centres.

CastleCourt and Foyleside Shopping Centre retained their positions of second and third while Abbey Centre also kept fourth spot with Rushmere Shopping Centre remaining in fifth.

Kildare Partners, owners of Foyleside and Forestside shopping centres, are now the leading investment manager in Northern Ireland. Tristan Capital Partners have fallen to second place while HJS Developments remains in third place. Commerz Real and Wirefox complete the top five.

For the second consecutive year, Costa Coffee is the leading shopping centre tenant in the UK, with 289 units in 259 of the Top 500 centres. The other top five spots went to Card Factory, EE, New Look and Boots.

Liz Williamson of Trevor Wood Associates, commented: “From this year’s findings, it is clear there is a premier division of leading shopping centres across the UK. Many of these front runners have asserted their dominance by investing in major development projects. Indeed, 38 of the 500 leading schemes refurbished or extended in the last 24 months

“This year’s report also incorporated a new set of tables looking at the top 500 centres’ most prevalent anchor tenants. Boots was named the leading top anchor store for the top 100 schemes with H & M second.”

Keith Shiells, Head of Office Ireland, said: “We have the largest retail and property management teams in Northern Ireland and the company continues to invest in staff and new technology.

“This year we have won a series of significant shopping centre instructions with New River REIT, Sovereign Centros and CBRE GI. We now manage 48 shopping centres and retail parks across the UK and Ireland.”

He added: “We continue to demonstrate our ability to navigate challenging market conditions to meet the needs of a wide range of clients.”