True decline of Wales’ high streets laid bare
WALES is losing shops from its high streets at an alarming rate. The first half of this year saw the largest increase in shop closures for five years.
There were 68 closures between January and June, with only 31 shops opening to replace them.
The net loss of 37 Welsh shops was the greatest fall in the first half of each of the past five years, while the 31 openings is the second lowest over the same period.
Across Wales, Barry was the only one of the 11 Welsh towns and cities surveyed not to suffer a net decline in stores.
Bridgend saw the greatest percentage fall, losing 4% of its outlets.
It was a depressing view across the UK as a whole, but Wales had a steeper drop in shops than the UK average.
There was a 2.3% drop in the number of shops in the towns surveyed means Wales is the worst hit of the 11 UK regions covered in the report from PwC. The national average was a 1.8% fall.
The pressure on high streets comes from continued growth in online shopping, shift to in-home leisure and restructuring activity from companies according to PwC.
It’s not all doom and gloom, however.
There was some positive growth across Welsh high streets, as nine business types – including opticians, chocolatiers, sports goods shops and beauty salons – increased in number in the first half of the year.
However, the research also revealed men’s clothes shops and bookmakers experienced the highest net fall in the number of outlets.
John-Paul (JP) Barker, regional leader for PwC’s West and Wales region, said: “The picture this new report paints for Wales is a continuation of
what we have seen for a number of years now, as shop closures far outweigh new store openings
“There has been no let-up in the changing ways that people shop and the cost pressures affecting high-street operators, not just in Wales but right across the UK.
“While retailers need to keep investing to make sure their stores and propositions are relevant to today’s consumers, it’s also critical that all stakeholders find ways to ease the burden on operators, keep investing in the high street, and encourage new and different types of operators to fill vacant space.
“As consumers continue to change the way they shop and spend their leisure time, the reality is that we may need fewer high streets in the future.
“This opens up opportunities to repurpose high street space for other uses, while the remaining space evolves to meet consumer demand for convenience, choice and experience.”
Wellbeing charity Carnegie UK Trust said our towns were in “grave danger”.
Jennifer Wallace, head of policy at Carnegie UK Trust, said: “Britain’s towns are in grave danger of being left behind in the debate about our high streets. Boarded Up Britain is primarily composed of the forgotten, neglected towns of this country, which lack the policy support nationally to secure much needed change.
“Two in every five people in the UK live in towns, yet there is still no coherent government policy for towns.
“A town’s retail offering is crucial to its survival – but times are changing and we need to support a bold new story for towns. The time has come to take towns seriously.”