Rate of shop closures is at lowest level since 2018
SHOP closures have fallen for first time since 2018, data from the British Retail Consortium shows.
The overall vacancy rate for retail destinations fell from 14.5 per cent in the third quarter to 14.4 per cent, according to the BRC and the Local Data Company.
The last time the vacancy rate fell was the first quarter of 2018, when it dropped by 0.1 points to 11.1 per cent.
Shopping centre vacancies showed the biggest improvement, down 0.3 points to 19.1 per cent, while the rate of empty stores on the high street moved in line with the overall rate, down 0.1 per cent to 14.4 per cent. The percentage of empty store fronts at retail parks was static at 11.3 per cent.
The lowest level of vacancies was in the South where higher disposable incomes and greater investment meant that stores did not stay empty for as long as in other places.
Lucy Stainton, LDC director, said that the growth in independent businesses on high streets had helped reduce vacancies. She added: “This is the first real indica- tion that the most significant structural impacts of the pandemic are potentially at their peak for certain regions.”
Helen Dickinson, BRC chief executive, said that while the last months of 2021 offered “the first glimmers of hope,” the Government urgently needs to reform business rates.
She added: “Shuttered shops diminish the vibrancy of local high streets, costing jobs and damaging local communities.
“Business rates reform remains the most effective way of helping drive much needed investment to left-behind communities,” she said.
Elsewhere, online electricals retailerAOWorld has launched a strategic review of its German business, after the division’s third quarter revenues fell 24 per cent. The drastic decline in Germany, along with a 12 per cent fall in UK sales, resulted in group revenues sliding by 14 per cent for the quarter.
Its German business is suffering due to supply chain problems, higher marketing costs, increased competition and online shopping levels returning to normal.