Toby Sykes
Head of Retail National, UK • United Kingdom
About
Toby has been a specialist in the UK shopping centre market for the last 30 years.
His experience has included pre-leasing some of the biggest and best new regional developments including The Trafford Centre in Manchester, Bullring in Birmingham, Trinity Leeds and most recently Westgate Oxford.
He is currently working on some of the most dominant and successful centres in the UK including Westfield Stratford.
Services
Retail Consultancy
Cushman & Wakefield has a track record of delivering strategic advice on projects, developments, investments and occupier portfolios through highly-skilled retail consultancy capabilities.
Leisure & Restaurants
Leisure and restaurants are our passion; our team brings together cutting-edge and commercially-established schemes.
More Insights
Insights • Economy
Cost Inflation: Are Fundamentals Still Supporting Fee Growth?
The UK elderly care market remains supported by strong demographic trends despite cost inflation driven by rising labour expenses, higher interest rates and ongoing geopolitical disruption, including the ongoing wars in Ukraine and Iran.
14/10/2026
Research
Track prime rents and yields in up to 43 cities across Europe, covering the key office, high street and logistics sectors.
Nigel Almond • 12/10/2026
Article • Government / Public Sector
Your First Home: A Positive Step, But Is It Enough?
The Government's proposed Your First Home (YFH) scheme has been welcomed by many across the housebuilding sector, which has been calling for a meaningful demand-side stimulus since the Help to Buy programme ended four years ago.
05/10/2026
Insights
Unified by Disruption: A Generation Rewriting Retail
Explore the structural shifts reshaping Generation Z consumer behaviour and the implications for retailers, landlords, investors and developers seeking to future-proof their retail real estate strategies.
Edward Bavister • 05/10/2026
Research
UK Student Accommodation Report
The Student Accommodation Annual Report provides insight into the trends in student accommodation demand, supply and investment during the year to date.
David Feeney • 01/10/2026
Podcast
A collection of podcasts and video series from Cushman & Wakefield’s experts on the trends shaping real estate in the UK.
23/09/2026
Article • Government / Public Sector
The opening weeks of Andy Burnham’s tenure as Prime Minister have brought a flurry of policy announcements with potential implications for the UK real estate market, with examples including a commitment to increase council housebuilding, business-rates relief for pubs and music venues, and proposals to give councils greater control over the mix of uses on high streets.
Joshua Woolnough • 27/08/2026
Research • Workplace
London Moves 2026 is Cushman & Wakefield's detailed analysis of the who, what, where and why of office relocations across the Capital.
Kiran Patel • 14/05/2026
Research • Sustainability / ESG
A New Value Paradigm for Sustainable Urban Regeneration
22/04/2026
Article • Government / Public Sector
Health of the Market – Elderly Care and Seniors
After stellar investment into the healthcare sector during 2025, the geopolitical landscape has shifted investor sentiment across real estate. Nevertheless, the fundamentals remain robust across all subsectors of Healthcare.
Peter Farnes • 31/03/2026
Article • Economy
Kinetic Energy - UK Real Estate and the wider implications of the Iran conflict
The US–Israeli military campaign against Iran that began on 28th February and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz have removed millions of barrels of daily supply from the market. On 9th March 2026, Brent crude spiked to $119.50 per barrel, the first time oil had traded above $100 since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Jason Winfield • 31/03/2026
Research
K-Beauty: A Glow Up for UK Retail?
Discover how South Korean cosmetics are reshaping the high street and driving new opportunities for UK landlords and retailers.
Megan Hutchinson • 05/03/2026
UK INSIGHTS
Insights • Economy
Cost Inflation: Are Fundamentals Still Supporting Fee Growth?
The UK elderly care market remains supported by strong demographic trends despite cost inflation driven by rising labour expenses, higher interest rates and ongoing geopolitical disruption, including the ongoing wars in Ukraine and Iran.
14/10/2026
Research
Track prime rents and yields in up to 43 cities across Europe, covering the key office, high street and logistics sectors.
Nigel Almond • 12/10/2026
Article • Government / Public Sector
Your First Home: A Positive Step, But Is It Enough?
The Government's proposed Your First Home (YFH) scheme has been welcomed by many across the housebuilding sector, which has been calling for a meaningful demand-side stimulus since the Help to Buy programme ended four years ago.
05/10/2026
Insights
Unified by Disruption: A Generation Rewriting Retail
Explore the structural shifts reshaping Generation Z consumer behaviour and the implications for retailers, landlords, investors and developers seeking to future-proof their retail real estate strategies.
Edward Bavister • 05/10/2026
Research
UK Student Accommodation Report
The Student Accommodation Annual Report provides insight into the trends in student accommodation demand, supply and investment during the year to date.
David Feeney • 01/10/2026
Research
H1 2026 EMEA Data Centre Market Update
EMEA data centre capacity has grown more than 36% in two years as AI, cloud and sovereign demand continue to accelerate development, but power availability and delivery timelines are now the principal factors determining where that growth concentrates.
Matyas Fazekas • 14/09/2026
Research • Workplace
London Moves 2026 is Cushman & Wakefield's detailed analysis of the who, what, where and why of office relocations across the Capital.
Kiran Patel • 14/05/2026
MarketBeat
Our Marketbeat reports provide quarterly commercial real estate market activity data covering supply, demand, and pricing trends. Explore our UK Marketbeat reports which cover office, life sciences, retail, industrial, investment, and specialist market sectors.
Edward Bavister • 28/07/2025
Article
Co-Living: In an ever-changing market, where do the hurdles and opportunities lie for the sector?
Despite initially emerging in scale in 2016, more than six years on, the co-living market remains in relative infancy. We explore the hurdles the co-living sector is up against and the potential opportunities on the horizon.
07/12/2022
Insights
A regular update on the commercial real estate investment scene in Europe.
James Young • 27/10/2022
Insights • Economy
A regular update on the commercial real estate market in the UK.
31/05/2022
FEATURED STORIES
Cushman & Wakefield – Birmingham Office • Commercial Real Estate
Exemplar service line collaboration to deliver a new workplace for our Midlands team.
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Battersea Power Station Development Company • Retail
Battersea Power Station is an iconic 42-acre development on the south of the River Thames.
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Hines • Retail
Developing a forward-looking strategy for one of Birmingham’s prime assets.
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