Study: ‘Personal services boom on high streets’

But concerns remain for major retailers

HAIR AND beauty salons, tattoo and piercing shops and funeral directors are booming on the UK’s high streets amid concerns for the future of some major retailers, a study has found.

Many high streets are moving away from being “carbon copies of one another” towards a model familiar to older generations with flourishing personal services, markets, and food specialists, according to analysis by consumer group Which?.

Which? analysed almost 1.5 million Ordnance Survey (OS) records to compare Britain’s retail and services landscape from 2014 to 2019, finding that businesses offering personal services that cannot be replicated easily online are thriving.

Of the 10 sectors that have seen an increase in premises on UK high streets, six are categorised as “eating out and services”, with the biggest increase since 2014 seen in banqueting and function rooms (114 per cent).

This was followed by markets, one of the few sectors categorised as a retailer in the top 10, which saw an increase of 52 per cent between 2014 and 2019.

Tattooing and piercing servtown

ices increased their presence on the high street by 44 per cent, cafes, snack bars and tea rooms by 35 per cent and hair and beauty services by 31 per cent.

Which? Magazine editor Harry Rose said: “While it’s concerning to have seen so many well-loved brands disappear from UK high streets in recent years, our research suggests the future of our centres isn’t necessarily as bleak as the reports of store closures would have you believe.

“As shoppers needs and habits evolve, it’s vital that businesses keep up with these changing trends and consider how they can grow with them, in order to continue thriving on the high street.”

Of the 10 hardest hit sectors, only two were categorised as offering personal services, fast food delivery services (down 50 per cent) and internet cafes (down 36 per cent). The rest were categorised as retailers.

The hardest hit sector was book and map sellers, the first to be hit by the rise of Amazon, which saw a reduction of 70 per cent over the five-year period.

Other sectors to suffer include computer shops, shops selling second hand supplies, electrical goods and components sellers and art and antique stores.

Glasgow City saw the biggest growth in outlets categorised as ‘personal services’ in the five year period, with a 61 per cent increase in premises of this kind.

Coastal towns Eastbourne and Hastings both saw considerable decreases in the number of retail outlets on their high streets, down 18 per cent and 15 per cent respectively, however both also saw big increases in the presence of “personal service” businesses.