Shopping Centres in the UK

Finding a good shopping centre in the UK

Britain shops in four kinds of centre: the enclosed malls — regional giants like Meadowhall, Bluewater and the Trafford Centre, and the town-centre precincts — with department stores, fashion, food courts and cinemas under one roof; the retail parks on the ring roads, with the big-box stores, free parking and drive-through coffee; the designer outlet villages selling last season's brands at 30 to 70 per cent off; and the leisure-led centres where the bowling, the cinema and the restaurants are the draw and the shops are round the edge. All of them are as much about parking, food and a dry afternoon as about the shops.

Visiting well is a matter of hours, parking and timing: the big centres open until eight or nine on weekdays and shorter on Sundays, parking is free at most retail parks and outlets and charged or time-limited at city centres, and the quiet hours are weekday mornings and after six. The outlets are the value, especially in January and the mid-season sales; the big centres run events, Santa's grottos and late-night shopping in December; and most have changing places, wheelchair and scooter hire, quiet hours and free children's events in the school holidays.

The listings here show each centre's shops and restaurants, opening hours, parking and transport, cinema and leisure, accessibility and family facilities, events and contact details, so you can see what is nearby, what is open and where people in your town go for a day's shopping.

Kinds of shopping centre

Regional and city malls: the big enclosed centres with department stores, two hundred shops, food courts, cinemas and all-day parking.

Town centre precincts: the covered centres in most towns, with the high street chains, a supermarket, cafés and the market nearby.

Retail parks: out-of-town parks with the big-box stores — DIY, furniture, electricals, sports, pets — free parking and drive-throughs.

Designer outlets: outlet villages with the brands at 30 to 70 per cent off, restaurants and a day out feel, usually an hour's drive from the cities.

Leisure centres: the places built around the cinema, bowling, trampolines, restaurants and bars, with shops alongside.

Before you go shopping

• Check the hours; big centres open late on weekdays and close early on Sundays and bank holidays.
• Check the parking: free at retail parks and outlets, charged or time-limited at city centres, and the multistorey fills by noon on Saturdays.
• Look at the store list; the shop you are driving for may be in the retail park next door.
• Go weekday mornings or after six for the quiet, and avoid Saturday afternoons in December.
• For outlets, the January and mid-season sales stack a further discount on the outlet price.
• Check accessibility: changing places, scooter hire, quiet hours and where the family facilities are.

What a trip to the shops costs

As a rough guide, parking is free at retail parks and most outlets, £1.50 to £4 an hour or £5 to £15 a day at city centre car parks, and free for two to four hours at many town centre precincts with a shop; outlets sell last season's stock at 30 to 70 per cent off the original price with the sales taking more; a cinema ticket at a centre runs £8 to £15, bowling £6 to £10 a game, a food court meal £8 to £15 and a restaurant £15 to £30 a head; and the big centres' gift cards work across every shop in them. Public transport to the regional centres is usually a bus or tram from the city, and the outlets run coaches from the cities in December.

The outlet an hour away saves more on a winter coat than the petrol costs to get there, if you were going to buy the coat anyway.