Liverpool is still holding on to the high street the most, with residents doing more high street spending than anywhere else in the UK, stated a recent analysis done on UK’s 30 most populous cities on a range of metrics, including the level of high street spending, high street footfall and the number of retail addresses.
According to Small Business Prices, Liverpool received a spending score of 134 (compared to a pre-lockdown baseline of 100) which was higher than any other city on the list, as well as beating most other cities when it comes to the number of vacant high street services (just 12 per cent).
Plymouth came in second place overall for a thriving high street, and also topped the list when it comes to high street footfall. This coastal city logged the highest footfall on both weekdays and weekends, with a score of 176 and 186 for each respectively (compared to a pre-lockdown baseline of 100). This was followed by Southend-on-Sea, which recorded the second highest footfall across the week, and Swansea with the third highest.
Meanwhile, Coventry was revealed as the UK city with the least appreciation for the high street, followed by Reading and Birmingham. All three cities scored poorly for high street spending, which isn’t surprising considering they also saw some of the lowest high street footfall in the country.
Though all regions of the UK have experienced a decline in the number of high street shops in the first half of 2022, the North East and North West experienced the smallest decrease with a net change of -71. This was followed by Wales with -100, and the East Midlands with -136.
On the other end of the spectrum, London experienced the biggest decrease in the number of high street shops with a net loss of -389.
Stoke-on-Trent in the West Midlands officially has the largest number of retail outlets on its high street at 53, beating London by a fairly wide margin despite being a much smaller city.
London scored the second highest number of retail addresses (45), despite performing poorly in the overall ranking. The capital’s large number of shops is most likely down to it being the UK’s biggest city, and is unfortunately let down by a very low level of high street spending and footfall in proportion to its population size.
Online shopping is now more popular than ever, and it’s taking a toll on our high streets. 2021 saw nearly 50 shops shut per day on the British high street, and this number is only likely to increase as ordering online becomes more and more accessible. Despite this, almost half of UK consumers said that they still prefer to shop in-person if they have the choice.
Overall, although most cities are seeing a continual decline in both the number of high street shops and customers visiting them, apparently not everyone is quite ready to let go of the in-person shopping experience just yet. With new shops continuing to open around the country despite frequent closures, it seems many Brits do still have a heart for the high street, states the report.
Andrew Goodacre
