Savills : Edinburgh’s F&B market strengthens as independents and established chains take a bite of the action

The food and beverage (F&B) market in Edinburgh has always presented a strong proposition thanks to its affluent local catchment and its popularity as a tourist destination attracting huge numbers of visitors from across the globe. The pandemic placed some obvious pressure and challenges on the sector as a result of multiple lockdowns and movement restrictions, as well as continued periods of isolation for staff. However, despite this, the city's F&B market has made an impressive bounce back from the pandemic. While we have seen some brands disappear, they have been replaced with strong and growing demand from other operators for existing (fitted) F&B units which have recognised the long term potential that the city offers. Independent brands have continued to dominate the Edinburgh market, however we are also seeing a number of niche and upmarket national operators looking to establish a presence in the city.

Generally Edinburgh's offering of F&B outlets has been quite evenly spread throughout the city centre and into neighbourhood suburbs. However, we are now seeing the emergence of a more established F&B pitch around the new St James Quarter, which has also helped to attract a number of new names such as Tortilla, Pho and Salerno Pizza. We have also seen the opening of a Scottish themed food hall, Bonnie & Wild, and there are a number of upmarket brands due to open soon including Sushi Samba and The Alchemist. Gordon Ramsey's Bread Street Kitchen concept will also be opening soon and will sit alongside The Ivy, Hawksmoor and Dishoom on St Andrew's Square.

As we move forward, the area around Edinburgh's east end (St James Quarter and St Andrews Square) will continue to establish itself as the city's main F&B destination. I would also expect that in addition to this, George Street and Princes Street will continue to see more F&B brands taking up former retail space; this will start to create a wider and more diverse range of offerings. Independent operators will continue to take up a large amount of market share and it's likely that we will see more of Edinburgh's existing F&B operators either expand or relocate to more prime locations, which will now offer more affordability than in the past, creating an opportunity for such businesses to raise their profile.

There's no doubt that the ongoing lack of international visitors to Edinburgh presents a challenge to the F&B market, which is used to high volumes of tourists. However, this summer has seen an exceptionally strong re-opening with locals keen to get out and socialise again. We have also seen large numbers of UK-based visitors coming to Edinburgh, which was helped by the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Edinburgh International Festival both going ahead in August.

As the F&B and leisure sector continues to evolve with more unique and experiential concepts gaining more traction, it's important that Edinburgh embraces this progression. We have already seen the Johnnie Walker Experience open in the former House of Fraser at the far end of Princes Street and it's these concepts that will be crucial in attracting both daytime and evening footfall to specific streets, which will in turn be attractive for complementary F&B uses. Leisure, F&B, and other non-retail uses are going to be vital for the ongoing vitality of the city centre in wake of a changing retail landscape.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Contact Isla Monteith

High Street Retail