Trends · data through September 2026

Colleges & Universities in the United Kingdom

Iceflower tracks 453 stores from 383 colleges & universities in the United Kingdom. Edinburgh College grew fastest over the last year, ahead of University of Central Lancashire and University of Salford.

Rankings come from real card and bank transactions across a panel of 130M+ US and EU consumers. We publish relative growth and rankings, never revenue figures. About the data

Tracked chains
383
Tracked stores
453
Consumer panel
130M+

Growth ranking

Fastest-growing tracked colleges & universities

Ranked by year-over-year growth of share of tracked local spend. Arrows show movement in the rankings since last year. Each dot in the chart is one tracked chain: bigger market position to the right, faster growth higher up, more tracked stores in a bigger dot. Colors match the store map below. Edinburgh College and University of Central Lancashire sit in the high-growth half.

# Chain YoY growth
RankChainRank movementYoY growth
1 E Edinburgh College - +16.3%
2 U University of Central Lancashire logo University of Central Lancashire - +3.4%
3 U University of Salford logo University of Salford ▲1 -4.6%
4 F Fife College - -5.5%
5 N Northern Regional College - -13.3%
6 U University of Cumbria logo University of Cumbria - -19.9%
7 U Universal ▼1 -42.9%
  • Leicester
  • Barbican Centre
  • University of Cumbria
  • University of York
  • University of Derby
  • University of Life
  • Napier University
  • Other tracked chains

Store footprint

Store map

453 tracked store locations in the United Kingdom. The 7 largest tracked chains are highlighted.

  • Leicester (1)
  • Barbican Centre (2)
  • University of Cumbria (3)
  • University of York (1)
  • University of Derby (3)
  • University of Life (1)
  • Napier University (1)
  • Other tracked chains

Top tracked chains by store count

  • 1 C Coleg Gwent logo Coleg Gwent 5
  • 2 U University of Salford logo University of Salford 4
  • 3 F Fife College 4
  • 4 N Northern Regional College 4
  • 5 U Universal 3
  • 6 U University of Cumbria logo University of Cumbria 3
  • 7 U University of Derby logo University of Derby 3
  • 8 E Edinburgh College 3
  • 9 B Barnet and Southgate College 3
  • 10 B Belfast Metropolitan College 3
  • 11 U University of Central Lancashire logo University of Central Lancashire 3
  • 12 P Preston College 2
  • 13 U Ulster University logo Ulster University 2
  • 14 B Blackpool and the Fylde College 2
  • 15 U University of Cambridge logo University of Cambridge 2
  • 16 K Kingston University logo Kingston University 2
  • 17 C City of Glasgow College 2
  • 18 M Minehead 2
  • 19 R Royal Veterinary College logo Royal Veterinary College 2
  • 20 U University of Greenwich 2
  • 21 S SERC 2
  • 22 M Menspire logo Menspire 2
  • 23 C Coleg y Cymoedd 2
  • 24 T The University of Law logo The University of Law 2
  • 25 B Bath Spa University logo Bath Spa University 2
  • 26 D Derby College 2
  • 27 G Gloucestershire College logo Gloucestershire College 2
  • 28 M MidKent College 2
  • 29 E Edge Hill University logo Edge Hill University 2
  • 30 L Leicester College logo Leicester College 2
  • 31 B Bedford College logo Bedford College 2
  • 32 N Northampton College 2
  • 33 N New City College 2
  • 34 L Liverpool John Moores University logo Liverpool John Moores University 2
  • 35 C Coleg Cambria logo Coleg Cambria 2
  • 36 H Hopwood Hall College 2
  • 37 U University of Glasgow 2
  • 38 U University Of Exeter 2
  • 39 L London College of Fashion logo London College of Fashion 2
  • 40 U University of Oxford logo University of Oxford 2
  • 41 U University of Hull logo University of Hull 2
  • 42 B Brunel University 2
  • 43 U University of Dundee logo University of Dundee 2
  • 44 U University of Bath logo University of Bath 2
  • 45 U University of Reading logo University of Reading 2
  • 46 B Barbican Centre 2
  • 47 L London Metropolitan University logo London Metropolitan University 2
  • 48 N NTU Music 1
  • 49 C Cardiff University logo Cardiff University 1
  • 50 U University of Chester logo University of Chester 1

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