Shopping centres have produced some of the strongest returns across European real estate in 2025 and are expected to continue their strong performance through 2026. After some tumultuous years of yield expansion, rental rebasing and structural headwinds, the sector's existential crisis is firmly in the rearview mirror.


The rising tide is, however, not lifting all boats; dominant, experience-led destinations with strong catchments and proactively curated tenant mixes continue to capture retailer and consumer demand. Average quality stock presents a more complex picture: rents have re-based and are now sustainable, but the path to meaningful growth is less certain. Understanding where an asset sits within that quality spectrum is critical to establishing whether the investment case stacks up.

Please join us for a seminar where we assess the fundamental backdrop for shopping centres, examine the divergence in performance, and assess return expectations across geographies, with a view to the consumer and occupier trends shaping the medium-term outlook.

Thank you to the Crown Estate for hosting this event.

Chair
Matthew Soffair, Senior Research Manager, Legal & General

Speakers
Tom Berry, Senior Research Associate, Green Street
Nicholas Found, Head of Commercial Content, Retail Economics

Panellists
Iris Behler, Director, Eastdil
Russell Loveland, Head of UK Asset Management, Pradera


Tom Berry, Senior Research Associate, Green Street
Tom is a Senior Associate at Green Street Advisors, providing investment advice and research across public and private markets, with a primary focus on UK Retail.

Prior to joining Green Street in 2024, Tom was a Senior Associate at Brockton Everlast, working in the Portfolio management & Research team, focussing on Life Science and Offices. He also worked as an Associate Director at Aviva Investors, responsible for Pan-European real estate strategy and research, and at CBRE in the UK Research team.


Nicholas Found, Head of Commercial Content, Retail Economics
Nick Found is Head of Commercial Content at Retail Economics, where he leads thought leadership, research, and media strategy for some of the industry’s leading retail brands.

An economist by background, he specialises in retail and consumer insights, combining data, economic analysis, and storytelling to uncover the trends shaping the sector. Prior to this, Nick spent several years at Retail Week, where he led content and research for its flagship intelligence platform.

Today, he’s a LinkedIn Top Voice and regular commentator on retail trends, with insights featured across major media including the BBC and the Times.

Russell Loveland, Head of UK Asset Management, Pradera
Russell Loveland as Head of UK & Ire Asset Management for Pradera looks after over 7m sqft of retail and leisure space. Prior to joining Pradera, Russell spent 8 years at Landsec heading up the Shopping Centre Portfolio and before that 8 years at Lendlease looking after Bluewater and other retail assets. Before moving Landlord side Russell worked on the retail property side at Uniqlo and Arcadia.


Matthew Soffair, Senior Research Manager, Legal & General
Matt is a senior research manager in Legal & General’s global research and investment strategy team, specialising in the Retail, Hospitality and Industrial sectors. He is responsible for market research, driving strategic operational initiatives and guiding investment strategy. Matt is also responsible for research and strategy for key thematic areas, including social impact, environmental sustainability and operational real estate. Matt helped develop Legal & General’s place-based social impact framework in 2023.