West End boom buoys Shaftesbury

More than 300,000 people flocked into the West End to celebrate Chinese New Year last weekend, filling the restaurants and shops of the landlord behind much of Chinatown and London's Theatreland.

Shaftesbury chief executive Jonathan Lane said: "Chinese new year has gone from something very local to migrating to Leicester Square and then onto Trafalgar Square.

"It is a massive event, which has had great support from the Mayor of London."

Shaftesbury's West End estate, which also includes Carnaby Street and parts of Covent Garden, continues to defy gravity despite uncertain conditions for the wider UK economy.

The latest update follows strong Christmas trading from Tiger Tiger's owner Novus, which also owns Zoo Bar in Leicester Square, and a buoyant performance for London's theatreland, with a seventh year in succession of growing box-office revenues.

Around a quarter of Shaftesbury's portfolio is centred on Chinatown, where space is in short supply.

The firm secured a rare vacant possession in January after buying the site of the Fung Shing restaurant in Lisle Street, which closed this year but forged a reputation as the best Chinese restaurant in London during the 1980s.

Lane added that only 1.1% of its available commercial space is vacant and it has no larger shops generating rents of more than £100,000 a year to let at all.

He said: "Our current challenge is to secure vacant possession to accommodate these applicants as we still have very little space to let."