City hotspot for shops closing down
MANCHESTER experienced the highest number of retail store closures across the north west last year, a new study has revealed.
Research compiled for PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) by the Local Data Company (LDC) claims that a snapshot from January revealed there were 808 shops compared to 837 in January 2017.
A closer look revealed that there were 57 new openings and 86 closures – which means the loss of seven every month.
The loss of 29 stores is the highest net reduction of cities and towns in the north west, including Oldham, Stockport, Blackpool, Chester, Liverpool, Carlisle and Barrow-inFurness.
Across Britain, only central London (132), Glasgow (53) and Sheffield (30) experienced a higher net fall than Manchester.
Across the whole region, 340 shops opened and 515 closed – a 25 per cent increase in the number of closures compared to 2016.
Only two town centres in the north west – Altrincham and Lytham St Annes – saw a positive net change in 2017.
PwC, which commissioned the report, said nationally no town had been ‘immune to the trend of high street loss’ and pointed the finger at the changing retail climate and the continued economic uncertainty. But Vaughan Allen, chief executive of CityCo, which manages Manchester’s Business Improvement District – a consortium of 400 retail, food and other customer facing businesses – refuted the data.
He said: “The statistics on this report don’t reflect the city centre’s experience where we have had a net gain over recent months, where brands are still seeking to come, and some shopping areas have long waiting lists.”
Meanwhile, Professor Cathy Parker from Manchester Metropolitan University, who is leading a project to analyse footfall in more than 100 centres in the UK, including Manchester, Altrincham and Oldham, said the data didn’t reflect the full picture.
She said: “Reports such as this are useful as they give us a snapshot of what is happening across our high streets and town centres. We know solid evidence is the best place to start before politicians, retailers, other businesses and city and town managers launch into action.
“However, we must look beyond the basic stats as, on their own, the store opening and closing figures of multiple retailers don’t tell us the full story.
“For instance, Manchester has lost more stores than it has gained, but our analysis of activity patterns shows the city is still one of the top retail centres in the UK. I would argue Manchester had too many chain stores, so losing some of them is nothing to worry about.”