Grocery stores are bucking the challenging retail environment with more than four million sq ft planned for the region according to a new report.

According to CBRE, the 4.5 million sq ft of grocery store floorspace in the development pipeline in the West Midlands makes up 11 per cent of total planned grocery floorspace in the UK.

Only Scotland, the South-east and the North-west have more grocery store floorspace planned, with 7.42 million sq ft, 5.14 million sq ft and 4.82 million sq ft respectively.

Nationally, grocery floorspace in the development pipeline has grown by 54 per cent since the onset of the credit crisis in 2007 and is currently the only retail sector seeing a sustained increase in development activity.

Leading the charge is Tesco, which has a 30.5 per cent share of the grocery market, followed by ASDA (17.3 per cent), Sainsbury’s (16.1 per cent) and Morrisons (11.8 per cent). Other multiples, including co-ops, account for 22 per cent of the market, with independents taking a 2.3 per cent share.

Grocery now accounts for 36 per cent (44.4m sq ft) of all shops development pipeline, up from 25 per cent four years ago.

Alan Klein, director and head of regional lease consultancy at CBRE in Birmingham, said: “The surge in grocery store development activity continues unabated, both on the High Street and out-of-town.

“Although the speculative shopping centre and retail park development pipeline declined by just over seven million sq ft between 2007 and 2011, because of the grocery development upturn the total shops pipeline has still grown by more than eight million sq ft.

“Furthermore, the scramble for grocery space looks set to run and run, not least because current economic conditions, combined with a dearth of jobs in more deprived areas, is forcing local authorities to be much more supportive of commercial development activity generally. With speculative development at a recessionary low, grocery development is often the only game left in town and could well remain so for some time.”