Independents take up the High Street slack

RESEARCH into the number of town centre businesses opening and closing has emphasised the increasing instability of commerce on the High Street.

According to The Local Data Company 1,900 businesses were opening and closing each week in the first half of the year.

In the top 500 town centres independently-owned businesses grew by 424 units (0.4%) while chains showed continued decline, losing 209 units.

The total churn – openings and closures – in these locations was 23,637 units, up from 21,803 in the first six months of 2012 and 17,308 in the same period in 2011.

Across Britain, in more than 2,700 locations, the total churn in the first half was more than double than that of town centres alone at 48,693.

It was the shops exposed to competition from e-commerce that were hardest hit with an overall decline of -13%. In the top 500 town centres leisure and convenience retail grew along with service retail, such as lenders and pawnbrokers, but shops selling non-perishable stock or “comparison goods” declined by -0.9%.

Matthew Hopkinson, director at the Local Data Company, said: “With nearly 50,000 businesses having opened or closed in the first half of the year it is clear that there are significant changes taking place. At the top level it is positive news with positive growth but more detailed investigation shows that it is the independents that are positive whilst the multiples have declined.

“Dig deeper and you will see that the country’s retail locations are changing from a primary location for comparison goods retailers to experiential places with growing food and beverage outlets, services and entertainment. The big question is how aware are the stakeholders in our retail places of these changes, be they the local authorities, banks, occupiers or investors?”