High Street
This coverage explores the state and evolution of the UK high street, with reporting on store openings and closures, footfall trends, redevelopment projects, policy impacts, and changing consumer behaviour. Insights are designed to help retail managers and executives understand the challenges and opportunities shaping high street retail operations and strategy.
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Apr- 2019 -4 AprilAnalysis
Securing the future of the UK high street
UK High Streets have reached a ‘tipping point’. That was the view of a recently published parliamentary inquiry report on UK high streets. The shift to online sales (now accounting for 20% of all retail sales); the upward revaluation of business rates, previous planning policies; and local authority financing constraints…
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Mar- 2019 -28 MarchEconomy
Retail sales fall in March
Retail sales volumes fell in the year to March, compounding a “subdued start to 2019”, according to the latest monthly CBI Distributive Trades Survey. The survey of 105 firms, of which 50 were retailers, showed an 18% drop in retail sales volumes, the fastest contraction in 17 months and marking…
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19 MarchAdvice
Hard times on the high street
The widespread impact of digital is a daily reality, but few cases have been so apparent to the everyday consumer than the disruption of retail. This trend has contributed to familiar retail names like Toys R Us, BHS and HMV falling into the hands of administrators, at risk of joining…
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8 MarchEconomy
Worst February in a decade for retailers, says BDO
High street retailers suffered the worst February in a decade for in-store sales, according to figures from BDO’s latest High Street Sales Tracker (HSST). According to the accountancy and business advisory firm, in-store like-for-like sales dropped -3.7% this month from a “poor base of” -1.6% for February last year. Additionally,…
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Feb- 2019 -22 FebruaryM&A
Martin Newman announces DownYourHighStreet.com investment
Retail expert, Martin Newman has announced he has invested in e-commerce platform, DownYourHighStreet.com, bringing its told investment raised this funding round to £272,060, 81% more than its target. The platform, created specifically for independent bricks and mortar retailers to grow their e-commerce business, will officially launch in June and currently…
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21 FebruaryGovernment
MPs call for business rates reform to save high street
The housing, communities and local government committee has said “dated policies” and an “unfair tax regime” needed reforming to allow high streets and town centres to flourish in its report into the future of the UK high street. The report highlighted the disparity between taxes paid by bricks-and-mortar retailers and…
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11 FebruaryHigh Street
High street vacancies on the rise, retail data shows
The national town centre vacancy rate was 9.9% in January 2019, up from 8.9% a year earlier This is according to the latest figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Springboard that also found retail footfall dropped a further 0.7% in January – although this was a lesser decline…
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8 FebruaryEconomy
61% of Brits worried high street will disappear in 10 years
Consumers are worried the high street is going to be lost completely due to the current store closures in the news, research by commercial brokers KIS Finance has revealed. A survey of 1,000 consumers in the UK, found 61% of Brits are worried the high street will disappear in the…
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Jan- 2019 -29 JanuaryAnalysis
The UK’s high street woes
There are few sectors where the effects of the faltering UK economy have been more starkly visible than the retail sector. It seems that every day the media presents another story about a high street name facing financial difficulty. There are a multitude of factors playing into the softening consumer…
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18 JanuaryAnalysis
Fall of the high street — can retailers survive?
The UK’s high streets are under attack. From the continued rise of online shopping, which has led to a reduction in footfall, to increases in business rates and the Living Wage, Britain’s retailers are struggling. The decline of the British high street has dominated the headlines in 2018 with in…
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