New figures show Network Rail show how retailers in Liverpool Lime Street station are among the best-performing in the country. Tony McDonough reports
Liverpool Lime Street was Network Rail’s best performing station in terms of like-for-like sales in the first quarter of the current financial year.
New figures from Network Rail Property reveals like-for-like retail sales in April, May and June were 23% higher than the previous year. Total retail sales for the same period were up +20% at the station.
Total retail sales counts for the overall retail revenue generated. Like-for-like retail sales is adjusted to account for new stores/businesses and refers to growth in sales recorded by the same number of stores previously.
Across all 19 Network Rail managed stations in Great Britain, total retail sales in the quarter reached £225.9m, delivering an increase of over £25m compared to the previous quarter.
Total retail sales increased +10% and +5% LfL sales across its retail portfolio. Network Rail’s annual retail sales for 2023/2024 surpassed £842m and were +2% ahead of 2019/20.
Strong sales performances were supported by the new opening of 92 Degrees in May. 92 Degrees is a new brand to the Network Rail portfolio and a local independent addition to Liverpool Lime Street.
With coffee shops across Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds and Scotland, their kiosk space at the station is its 16th opening and will serve up their Liverpool roasted coffee.
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All five Network Rail regions experienced growth in total sales, with the largest rise coming in the North West & Central region (+14%).
Network Rail tracks sales performance across retail, F&B and grocery categories, with Q1 seeing the strongest LfL growth in the grocery category (+8%).
London Waterloo was the strongest performing station in terms of total sales growth, with sales increasing by +39% in Q1. Liverpool Lime Street was the fourth best performing station, with an increase of +20%.