British Land has leased over 10,000 sq ft of space to healthcare providers for the first time at its Crownpoint Retail Park in Greater Manchester, Retail Week can reveal.

In what marks a significant strategic shift for the institutional landlord, British Land has signed off a 5,000 sq ft unit with Community Diagnostic Centre and a 5,300 sq ft lease with MyDentist, one of Europe’s largest dental care provider.

The landlord, who is one of the biggest retail park operators in the UK and also owns shopping centres such as Meadowhall, has also agreed a deal for a 2,500 sq ft unit with CVS Vets, one of the UK’s largest veterinary service providers.

All three deals have been agreed at British Land’s Crownpoint Retail Park in Denton, Greater Manchester.

Head of retail parks at British Land, Matthew Reed said: “With 40% of England’s population located within a 30-minute drive of British Land’s portfolio, leading healthcare brands are showing increasing interest in our retail parks.

“Providers embedded within the community are providing a crucial service for patients, cutting waiting times for core services such as blood tests or X-rays. This not only taps into a significant growth market but also broadens the demographic of our retail park customers and increases the reasons for visiting our retail parks and the time spent there”.

A source close to British Land said the institutional landlord thinks it has between eight and 15 other sites across its retail park portfolio that could be suitable for more healthcare leases in the future.

The move from the landlord chimes with the priorities of the new Labour government, who made fixing the NHS and cutting waiting times a major tenant of its election campaign.

Since winning the July 4 election, the government has since promised to hit its 18-week NHS waiting target within five years.

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