Sales skyrocket at London Waterloo after biggest ever Wetherspoons opens
Sales at London Waterloo shops have soared to the top of the leader-board of Network Rail’s portfolio of train stations, after the station opened a Wetherspoons that is the country’s largest railway pub, new figures show.
The London hub reported the most quarterly sales growth of any of the 19 stations Network Rail runs in the UK, up 47 per cent year-on-year.
It came in the same period a massive new JD Wetherspoon – called the Lion and Unicorn – opened next to Brewdog and Nando’s to much fanfare in September.
Waterloo’s growth was nearly double that of second place Birmingham New Street, where retail sales rose 24 per cent. Clapham Junction came in third, with a 23 per cent growth in total sales.
Network Rail said its property arm had made £233.7m between July and September, an increase of over £21m compared with the prior year.
The body, which manages Britain’s railway infrastructure, said the “encouraging” performance had been supported by 10 new openings and store upgrades across the quarter.
This included a re-vamp of Marks & Spencer and opening of the lifestyle toy brand POP MART at Liverpool Street Station.
A total of 56 retail units have opened throughout 2024, more than one a week on average.
“Sustained sales growth and new openings across our 19 managed stations is highly encouraging, as retailers are now in the Golden Quarter,” Hamish Kiernan, commercial director of property at Network Rail, said.
“We know how important Christmas is to our retailers and our customers will be making the most of our retail and F&B line-up over the festive period.”
He added: “Consistent performance over the last quarter underlines the success of our retail strategy and vision to enhance our destination stations.”