Record rent for Oxford Street

The shoe retailer Aldo has paid a record rent for a store on London's Oxford Street, in the latest deal to show the growing divide between the price of retail property in the capital and other parts of the country.

Aldo is paying around £725 per square foot for Zone A rent to remain in its existing shop at 309 Oxford Street. CBRE, which declined comment, advised Aldo on the deal.

Marie Andrée Boutin, the vice-president of real estate at Aldo, said: "We deliberated a great deal on this situation and decided that it's a tough but necessary pill to swallow."