Pictured: Rob Alston

Birmingham has so far witnessed a mixed year in retailing terms, according to Cushman & Wakefield, with a number of highs and lows.

Rob Alston, retail partner in Birmingham, said that the recent riots and a string of high profile retail failures had obscured the fact that rents in the city were holding steady, and there had been a number of upmarket arrivals.

The latter include White Stuff and Jack Wills. The city has also been boosted by news that John Lewis is set to open a 250,000 sq ft store at the redeveloped New Street station site. 

And, according to C&W's latest 'Birmingham Retail Bulletin', rents have been continuing to stabilise in the city, and even pick up in some areas. Despite this, 'zone A' rents are still well under the peak of £320 achieved between 2006 and when the recession caught hold in mid 2008. 

Prime rents are currently around £250, which is the figure given in C&W's recent 'Main Streets' survey of rental values in shopping streets around the world.

Birmingham's High Street was rated in the survey as the sixth most expensive shopping street in the UK, despite the rental value having declined by 9.1 per cent during the past year.

High Street is now on a par with Glasgow's Buchanan Street, Commercial Street in Leeds, Market Square in Manchester, and Northumberland Street in Newcastle.

Mr Alston said: "At the moment it is tough out there, but there is still demand in bigger cities in the Midlands, including Birmingham.

"It is in towns such as Rugby, Nuneaton and Tamworth where demand is slow, and it is very difficult to secure lettings."

Despite this, C&W's retail team has been working on a number of deals throughout the Midlands.

At the same time, the firm has been building up its shopping centre portfolio, and now has around 20 on its books, more than any other Midlands practice.

The latest to be added to the firm's porfolio in the Midlands include Three Spires in Lichfield, Isaac Newton Centre in Grantham and St Mary's Place in Market Harborough. This follows hard on the heels of C&W's appointment in June as letting agent to the prestigious Mander Centre in Wolverhampton, by owner Delancey.

Mr Alston said: "We now look after almost 20 shopping centres from this office, which is a very respectable figure. We will be looking to build on this in the future."