Revo, the organisation that represents the UK’s £360 billion retail property sector, has launched an industry-wide consultation with a view to establishing a formal classification structure for retail assets in line with global industry best practise.
The UK does not currently have its own established classification for defining the spectrum of retail properties and Revo is therefore seeking to develop a classification methodology that can be adopted across the industry, to provide clarity and properly reflect the diversity of retail asset purposes in the UK today.
Mark Williams, President at Revo said: “The retail landscape has undergone monumental change in the last five years, and the way that we, as an industry describe retail assets needs to follow suit. The case for this is clear; The descriptions ‘primary’ and ‘secondary’ are anachronistic, subjective and too simplistic.
“We need a wider, more objective range of categories which recognises that different locations fulfil different consumer needs, and which will support a more accurate assessment of assets. Investors, banks, analysts and valuers are all asking for better clarification, and this will provide it.”
Ed Cooke, Revo CEO said: “This is an important and influential piece of work, and as such we want to ensure that we get thorough input from as wide a range of industry professionals as possible. We have developed a proposed framework, which is based on a considered assessment of current thinking and research into this topic globally. We intend to refine this over the coming months to develop a credible and relevant classification that will be adopted by the UK’s retail property industry, with the intention of launching and further debating at our conference in Manchester on 19 and 20 September.”
RPA Perspective Anyone attending RPA’s The Future of Shopping Centres earlier this month will have had a sneak preview of some of the thinking behind Revo’s announcement.
Vice president Mark Robinson explained that Revo feels the current definitions do not give potential investors or occupiers a clear view of the merits of an individual mall.
Currently the only widely used shopping centre classification in Europe and the UK is the International Council of Shopping Centres (ICSC) classification. It is used by real estate advisors for market overviews, international comparison studies and statistical purposes.
Unlike the ICSC’s US classification, the European equivalent is focused mainly on the size of the scheme and does not take into account the specific characteristics of different types of shopping centres. There is no UK-only classification.
Revo has produced a proposed draft classification, based on an analysis of existing precedent, whereby centres are split into three broad categories – ‘Regional’, ‘Local’ and ‘Specialised’. Within each of these groups, three subcategories are proposed to provide clarity over purpose and function.
Revo is inviting the industry to debate and agree the objectives, outputs and outcomes of this work, along with the specific language within the classification. A wider survey-based consultation will also be undertaken to generate the broadest possible input into this important work.
Revo’s aim, subject to feedback, is to publish the new classification at Revo Manchester 2018, its annual conference which takes place between 18–20 September.
