Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Food stores replace fashions on high street

Alex Lawson
Sunday 13 March 2016 21:08 EDT
Comments
Cafe's and takeaways are filling Britian's high streets
Cafe's and takeaways are filling Britian's high streets (Getty)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

A flood of cafes and takeaways opening up across the country gave Britain’s ailing high streets a much-needed boost last year as the number of shop closures hit its lowest level since 2010.

There were almost 500 fewer shops by the end of last year, as 4,640 openings were countered by 5,138 closures, according to analysis by the Local Data Company for PwC.

Womenswear retailers – which were hit by unseasonably warm weather late last year – and high street banks made up the bulk of the closures as consumers increasingly bank and shop online.

The study revealed the lowest closure rate in five years at 13 shops a day, compared with the 2012 peak of 20 stores a day. More grocery and convenience stores opened while the growth in the number of charity shops slowed.

The report’s authors said the data was a reflection of “improving consumer confidence and the economic recovery” as low inflation buoyed sentiment.

But they sounded a note of caution. The administration of the shoe chain Brantano, and the now merged electricals retailer Dixons Carphone’s plans to combine more stores under one roof, meant 2016 would see a flood of newly empty shops.

The PwC retail specialist Mike Jervis said: “The openings are concentrated on ‘experience’ type outlets, especially food and beverage, and I’d also expect to see more growth in discount store openings this year.

“Fashion has taken another battering and the closures testify to the proliferations of ‘me too’ retailers in this sub-sector, especially ladies’ fashion,” he added.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in