Bath’s reputation as a magnet for international retailers has been recognised in new research showing it competing with far larger UK cities as the location of choice for top brands.
Bath was the first city outside of London to attract T2, the Australian tea retailer – which has opened a store on New Bond Street – and Anthropologie, the upmarket American homeware and fashion retailer which moved into the former Habitat store in New Bond Street. 
Italian cosmetics group KIKO Milano and Smiggle, the Australian stationery firm, have also arrived in the city – attracted by its high-spending shoppers and tourists.
Attracting these four international retailers puts Bath on a par with a select group of UK cities including Birmingham, Brighton, Sheffield and Guildford and means it has performed better than Bristol, Cardiff, Liverpool and Edinburgh as a retail honeypot. Only Leeds and Manchester performed better, attracting six and five shopping chains respectively, according to the research by commercial property specialist Colliers International.
Its 2016 National Retail Barometer tracked the UK openings of 10 international brands, across luxury and mass markets, none of which had a significant UK presence prior to the 2008 economic downturn.
As well as Anthropologie, T2, KIKO Milano and Smiggle, the brands included Michael Kors, Victoria’s Secret, Zara Home, Nespresso, Urban Decay, & Other Stories.
Colliers International retail director Nick Turk, pictured, who covers the South West, said: “Bath has hit the radar of international retailers because of its affluent population, potential tourist benefits and relatively low rents compared to many of the other major UK cities. These have proven attractive factors for international brands looking to grow in the UK.”
He said shoppers were now looking for a diversity of retail, restaurants and leisure all in the one concentrated area.
The Retail Barometer also shows that no major UK city has recorded a decline in rents since 2014, while 11 have enjoyed a steady increase in rents.
Bath also performs strongly in attracting upmarket London-based UK retailers such as homes accessories and gift store Brissi, which moved into the former Highgrove shop in Milsom Street, international spectacles and sunglasses brand Cutler and Gross, which opened on Bridge Street, and Sofa.com, whose shop in the Corridor was the first of a national roll-out of shops in selected locations.
