Manchester Arndale has announced a bumper 2025 as the North West’s leading retail and leisure destination recorded over 100,000 sq ft of new lettings across the shopping centre and neighbouring New Cathedral Street in the past 12 months.
The host of new arrivals includes several digital brands who have selected Manchester for their first physical location outside of London including Arc’teryx, Alo Yoga, Pro:Direct, Moida, and Mococo. These brands join the likes of Represent and Trailberg who opened their first standalone stores in Manchester last year.
A key factor in the rise of digital brands choosing Manchester for their first standalone stores is the strong young population living in working in Manchester. Over the past year, 50% of spend across Manchester Arndale and New Cathedral Street was from under 35s making it an ideal location for these brands to experiment with new store concepts targeted at this demographic.
Alongside the arrival of emerging brands, international retailers continue to flock to Manchester Arndale with Sephora, Hotel Chocolat, Boux Avenue, ProCook, Champion, and Sostrene Grene all signing lease agreements this year.
As well as growing its retail line-up, 2025 has seen Manchester Arndale diversify its F&B and leisure offering with Joe and the Juice, Popeyes, Shree Krishna Vada Pav (SKVP), and Caffe Nero all joining the line-up, alongside gym group XF Gym.
These new arrivals further increase the food and drink offering at Manchester Arndale, with the arrival of Hotel Chocolat’s new Velvetiser Café becoming the last piece of the centre’s transformation of Cross Street into a dining hub which also includes HOP Vietnamese and Joe and the Juice who both opened last year.
2025 has also seen existing retailers enhance their spaces at Manchester Arndale with Deichmann, Waterstones, and Footasylum all committing to upsizes and impressive store refits, meanwhile Body Shop, Victoria’s Secret, and Urban Playground have all signed lease renewals.
The arrival of new brands to Manchester Arndale replicates the increased international investment Manchester city centre is experiencing. This includes the completion of the first phase of the 1 St Michael’s mixed-use development as well as construction beginning on Robert De Niro’s 76-storey Nobu Manchester tower both of which will draw in an affluent business and residential community to the city.
Meanwhile, the city centre is set to welcome around £200m of investment as part of the £1bn Greater Manchester Good Growth Fund helping to support residential and commercial development across the city with 16 million people now within Manchester Arndale’s catchment area.
This increased international investment comes as Manchester continues to grow its cultural offering which has included the opening of the Co-Op Live Arena, the Oasis gigs in Heaton Park, and the announcements that both the Brit Awards and English National Opera will be relocating to Manchester.
Scott Linard, portfolio manager for M&G Real Estate, said: “Manchester’s growing business and student population is helping to retain talent in the city centre and has resulted in increased investment in new mixed-use projects. This has resulted in many people relocating to Manchester from across the UK and from around the world.
“At Manchester Arndale we have been able to reflect this new young diverse audience moving to Manchester, whether that is the increase of Korean beauty brands or the introduction of more leisure experiences. As Manchester continues to thrive, we will continue to evolve our occupier line-up to ensure we remain one of the North West’s premier attractions.”
Steve Gray, head of European retail asset management at Global Mutual, said: “Manchester is a real success story attracting international investment thanks to its strong talent pool and unique cultural offering. This success is having a real positive impact on the city centre and as a result international brands are keen to tap into this growing affluent audience.
“Over the past two years we are seeing more brands select Manchester for their first physical stores either in the UK or outside London. In particular traditionally more digital brands with a young audience are joining the line-up at Manchester Arndale as they look to reach our younger shopper demographic, which make up 50% of spend. We expect this to continue as we move into 2026 as Manchester cements itself as the UK’s second city.”
Metis Real Estate and Time Retail Partners are Manchester Arndale’s retained letting agents.
