Joint Western Berkshire (Reading, Bracknell Forest, West Berkshire and Wokingham)

Our team was instructed to provide a sub-regional retail study covering the four ‘Western Berkshire’ authorities of Reading, Bracknell Forest, West Berkshire and Wokingham. A new household survey (2,000 respondents) identified the extent to which shopping patterns had changed in recent years, influenced by new town centre developments within the authority areas (e.g. in Newbury) and in key competing locations such as High Wycombe.

The study discussed the implications of current national market trends and consequent localised impacts, identified current shopping patterns and catchment areas, and forecast the need for additional retail and leisure floorspace across the four local authority areas. Integral to the study was the consideration of impact of major investment currently underway in the area’s key centres, most notably Bracknell and Wokingham.