centre:mk, one of the top 10 prime retail destinations in the UK, has reported a strong start to 2025, following a successful 2024.
Setting the pace for another positive year ahead, the first week of 2025 saw an impressive footfall increase year-on-year of 20 percent at centre:mk. Marking 10.8 percentage points ahead of high street destinations and 11.3 percentage points above other shopping centres, centre:mk outperforms competing assets due to its unique regional pull.
This promising start to 2025 follows a positive 2024 at the centre. From 31st December 2023 to 28th December 2024, footfall at centre:mk reached 21.4 million, finishing with a rise of 1.5 percent year-on-year and 2.9 percentage points ahead of the UK benchmark. The destination welcomed over 6 million guests in Q4, with 21st December marking the busiest day of the year, exceeding Black Friday.
Celebrating a successful year of retail investment across 2024, centre:mk welcomed high-profile national and international retail brands including SpaceNK, Mint Velvet, Castore, Goldsmiths, and Office. The destination also saw investment from existing and new F&B operators, including Bill’s, Chaiiwala, Cornish Bakery, and Starbucks.
Kevin Duffy, centre:mk’s Centre Director, commented: “From our impressive footfall figures to our consistent footfall-to-spend conversion rate of over 95 percent, centre:mk’s ability to continually outperform UK benchmarks for the last decade is testament to our reputation as the prime, regional destination. Building on our successes of 2024, we’ll continue to apply our agile leasing strategy and active management style to create exciting opportunities for the right brands, ensuring our occupiers can capitalise on one of the largest and most affluent catchments in the UK.”
Set to be yet another bumper year for community engagement and footfall drivers at centre:mk, 2025 will see the city’s most popular events return to the destination, including Fashion Weekend, Handmade and Vintage Spring Extravaganza and The MK Job Show. Headline sponsors of the Milton Keynes International Festival, centre:mk will join the city-wide celebration, playing host to a range of activities within the destination.
