North West has most empty shops
THE NORTH West has the largest number of empty shops in England, according to new data.
According to an annual survey by the Local Data Company 20.2% of retail premises in the region are empty, up from 19.7% the previous year.
This compares with 9.4% in London and a national average of 14.2%, down from 14.3%, although this figure is based on the top 650 town centres.
Stockport, Blackburn, Altrincham and Morecambe are among the worst performers in the country.
Stockport was ranked the “worst large centre performer” with a vacancy rate of 28.3%, down 1.8%.
Blackburn and Altrincham were among the “worst medium centre performers”, at 27.6% and 27.1% respectively. The rate in Altrincham grew by 1.4% over the year.
Over a three-year period the North West had the top seven worst performing centres, including Bootle, Runcorn and Barrow. Only seven centres out of the top 20 worst performers were outside the Midlands and the North.
Matthew Hopkinson, director of The Local Data Company, said: “The picture is one of increasing polarization of performance between town centres, shopping centres and retail parks in every part of the country. Online is driving growth for a majority of retailers and so 2013 is all about the supporting role that shops will have as ‘customer experience’ centres and showrooms as much as transactions through their tills.
“Inevitably this means fewer shops will be required as our net closures data shows, and as such one can expect this divergence in performance to grow. Secondary shopping centres are coming to the fore in this respect.
“The big unknown is how technology will continue to channel and mould consumer spending habits and to what effect as bricks as clicks take the lead role? The pressure between online and rising costs of running a shop on the high street due to rents, rates and parking charges, is likely to become an increasingly hot topic.”
The report is based on analysis of 278,915 retail and leisure premises that were surveyed in 2012 and sit within the 1,914 retail centres.
The full report should be available here later in the day – http://www.localdatacompany.com/reports
