Retail sales at Network Rail stations up 3.5% in final quarter of 2017
New figures have revealed that total retail sales at Network Rail managed stations grew by 3.5% year-on-year in the final quarter of 2017.
According to Network Rail’s figures, over 66 million people visited a retail outlet at one of its 17 managed stations between October and December. Visitors spent almost £206 million as retail sales spiked over the festive season with gifting sales up 9% and stationery sales rising by 6%.
Network Rail said four of the top five stations for total sales growth have seen significant recent investment. These included Paddington, London Bridge, Kings Cross and Birmingham New Street where sales rose by 44%, 40%, 11% and 11% respectively.
The top five also included Cannon Street where sales increased by 12%.
Meanwhile, sales at Manchester Piccadilly and Bristol Temple Meads both grew by 6% while sales at Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Central climbed by 7% and 3% respectively.
However, there was just a small rise in overall like-for-like sales with an uplift of 0.8%.
David Biggs, managing director of Network Rail Property, said: “Our retail sales continue to illustrate the demand for travel point retail at our stations, and this is further borne out in our impressive customer satisfactions scores.
“Despite the flat like-for-like growth this quarter, station users continue to be drawn to the variety and convenience of our offer and the exciting range of retail partners we have is helping our stations become destinations in their own right.”
