Retail Property Milton Keynes Guide

Milton Keynes – A town with growth and potential for new retail shops

Milton Keynes

Locally abbreviated to MK, Milton Keynes is the largest town in Buckinghamshire England around 50 miles north-west of London. Only being 40 minutes from London, Milton Keynes is custom to having a healthy number of tourists visiting the city and provides a varied selection of retailers occupying MK’s multiple shopping centres and retail parks.

Demographics

The population is estimated to have reached 300,000 and continues to rise. The area’s council are planning for around 41,000 further homes to be built to support the steady growth of the population which is believed to reach 500,000 by 2050.

  • In one year alone the population in Milton Keynes increased by 2,717, which is a growth of 1.04% comparing this with a growth rate of 0.83% for England.
  • The age profile in Milton Keynes is younger than England as a whole, 27.4% of MK’s population are aged 19 and under compared with 23.7% in England.
  • 59.5% of the MK population are aged 16-64 compared with the rest of England at 58.4%.
  • People aged 65+ represent 13.1% of the population, compared to England’s at 17.9%.
  • A slightly higher ratio of females at 50.5% and males, 49.5%.

Transport Links

Milton Keynes, located in south central England, is about 50 miles north-west of London taking on average 45 minutes to reach London by train. MK offers multiple transport links, allowing the entirety of the town to be easily accessible for both residents and visitors. Strong transport links include train services, buses, coaches, taxis and even also electric scooters which are located all around the city. The train services in Milton Keynes alone amount to just over 7 million passengers annually which show the consistency of how many people visiting this hot spot.

Milton Keynes Shopping Centre

Milton Keynes opened their first shopping centre, named the Centre:MK, in 1979 and has had a healthy turnaround of new retailers moving into the city. Currently just over 220 stores are located within Centre:MK with some of the larger retailers occupyig two or three floors. In 2000 the Centre had an extension added known as Midsummer Place which provides more than 50 additional stores to an already large shopping centre. The complex is the 14th largest shopping centre in the UK and in 2018 had over 25 million shoppers, 3.5 million people over the Christmas period.

Xscape Retail and Leisure Park

The Xscape opened in 2000 with multiple attractions and is one of the UK’s ultimate entertainment destinations. Along with retailers, the Xscape also provides one of the top cinemas in the country with a Starbucks situated within. A snow experience, bowling, sky diving and casino with recently opened gravity trampoline park located in the first floor along with the cinema.

The premises are located in a prominent location with other operators in the immediate vicinity, with multiple food outlets like Nandos, Pizza Express, and Wagamama. To rent a retail unit within the Xscape costs on average £130,000 per annum.

Retail Parks in Milton Keynes

Outside of these two large retail and leisure centres, Milton Keynes has multiple areas with retailers based all around. Some areas include Bletchley Park, famous for being the headquarters of Britain's World War II codebreaking organisation, and now a major tourist and retail attraction.

The future of retail in Milton Keynes

The centre MK has always been a pioneer of new technology, hosting events such as ‘SciRoc Robot Challenge’, showcasing the future of artificial intelligence and how AI will be used to complete day to day jobs in the retail space.

There are exciting plans to expand in the near future to bring even more retail and leisure to the city centre. This will make the city even more vibrant and creative for the growing population, including a new student population as a brand new university currently labelled MK.U aims to open in 2023. Read the full blog here

average price to let retail space

£130,000 per year

number visitors per year

25 million

number of shoppers during Christmas period

3.5 million

population

300,000

Find your next shop to let in Milton Keynes

Renting a unit within a retail scheme is a great way to gain exposure for your brand because they attract a large footfall of customers who wish to engage with retail, leisure and culinary providers.

View All Schemes in Milton Keynes