Liverpool ONE bucks national trend with record visitor numbers and spending

Liverpool ONE, the city’s flagship retail and leisure hub, saw record visitor numbers and shopper spending in 2015.

According to new figures, the shopping complex welcomed over 28m people over the last 12 months, a year-on-year rise of 3%. Similarly, L1 bucked a nationwide trend of reduced spending after shoppers splashed out 8.5% more than they did in 2014.

Furthermore, sales in accessories and beauty products across Liverpool ONE rose by 25%.

Retail bosses at the complex have attributed some of the growth to the refurbishments that took place in 2015, which included retailer John Lewis investing £4.5m to realise its new Loved & Found concept, welcome makeup brand Charlotte Tilbury and refreshments company Joe & the Juice, and launch the new Clarins Express Beauty Bar.

Chris Bliss, the estate director of Liverpool ONE, said: “We believe our strong retail mix is helping to drive this fantastic year on year growth.

“Our customers are really enjoying the variety of luxury brands, high street favourites and plenty of places to eat.”

He continued: “We have welcomed 11 new stores to Liverpool ONE during the last year – we have five new names already confirmed for 2016 with further announcements still to come.”

A number of new brands were announced for Liverpool ONE last year, including a flagship store from lingerie firm Victoria’s Secret and a new two-floor boutique from clothing retailer Hugo Boss.

Similarly, US fashion brand Michael Kors invested in Liverpool ONE with a new store on Peter’s Lane, while clothing company Zara chose L1 for its North West flagship outlet.

Chris continued: “We are delighted with the new and exciting brands which are being attracted to Liverpool ONE or have been inspired to invest in their store and we believe our continuing strong performance is a factor in this.

“We end 2015 in a very strong position, with all retail space being let and I am looking forward to further growth and success stories here at Liverpool ONE as we enter 2016.”

This year will see a Roxy Ball Room bar and Turtle Bay restaurant added to the Liverpool ONE offering, in addition to a number of other brands.