BrewDog boost as Edinburgh Waverley named fastest growing station outside London

Edinburgh Waverley has been named the fastest growing railway station for retail sales outside of London.

Releasing its latest quarterly sales data, Network Rail said like-for-like takings were up 10.5 per cent year on year at Waverley, making it the group’s best performing station outside of the UK capital. Network Rail runs 19 of the UK’s largest stations, including Waverley and Glasgow Central in Scotland, while the others - more than 2,500 - are run by the train operating companies, such as ScotRail north of the Border.

The group said the sustained quarterly sales growth at Waverley underlined the “resilience of retail performance” at the station and reflected Network Rail’s strategy to “improve the passenger experience”.

Edinburgh fire crews were called to Waverley Station on Thursday after reports of a small fire in the building

The figures covered the period between October and December 2024, during which Waverley station saw the arrival of a new BrewDog bar offering, as well as refreshed Marks & Spencer and Burger King outlets. The station now has a retail occupancy rate of 100 per cent, meaning all 15 retail units are trading.

During the third quarter, Glasgow Central also saw significant investment by retailers into station stores, with recently opened Greggs and Holland & Barrett branches.

Overall, Network Rail revealed a total sales uplift of 7 per cent across its portfolio of 19 managed stations in Britain. Total retail sales in the quarter topped £240.5 million. Network Rail’s total retail sales for calendar year 2024 surpassed £900m and for the first three quarters of the current financial year reached £701m.

For the third quarter in a row, London Waterloo was the best performing destination in terms of total sales growth. Total sales increased by 24.2 per cent at Waterloo over the latest quarter, with Liverpool Lime Street also sitting in the top five stations after experiencing 11.7 per cent growth.

In the third quarter of 2024, all five Network Rail regions experienced a positive like-for-like sales performance. Eastern and North West and Central saw the largest regional uptick, with sales increasing by 8 per cent compared to the same period a year earlier. In terms of total sales, North West and Central saw the biggest increase at 11 per cent on 2023 levels.

Hamish Kiernan, commercial director, property at Network Rail, said: “Our retail offering at Edinburgh Waverley station continues to go from strength to strength and our Q3 sales figures are the highest ever, demonstrating the appeal of our offer.

“Attracting and retaining brands such as BrewDog and M&S who invest and see the value in our destinations are vital to our continued success in Scotland and giving our customers the best possible station experience.”

The rail infrastructure operator said “diversifying and transforming” the retail experience for customers continued to be a priority. It added: “Carefully curating stations for brand success and continued sales growth demonstrates the strength of Network Rail’s retail strategy. ”

The figures cover retail, food and beverage and grocery brand sales.

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