Newport has most vacant shops due to pandemic, says new report

Newport has the most closed shops in the UK by area due to the pandemic, states a new report, adding that more than one-third are closed permanently.

According to new research released this week by Centre for Cities, Covid-19 has cost businesses in city and large town centres with more than 2,400 city and town centre units across the country having become vacant so far during the pandemic.

Central London is worst affected, losing 47 weeks of sales between the first lockdown and Omicron’s onset. Businesses in Birmingham, Edinburgh and Cardiff city centres are also among the worst hit- all have also lost nearly a year’s worth of potential sales, says the report.

Newport, with 33 percent of city centre units vacant, tops the list of cities with the highest share of vacant city centre units after June 2021, followed by Stoke (29.1 per cent), Sunderland (28 percent) and Bradford (27.6 percent).

As the pandemic continued and the cost of living rose, people have less disposable income to spend in shops and restaurants, and more high street units stand empty. Local reports also cite retailers’ claims that parking, pedestrianisation and anti-social behaviour have also contributed to what they see as the Newport city centre's downfall.

Andrew Carter, Chief Executive of Centre for Cities, said, “While the pandemic has been a tough time for all high streets it has levelled down our more prosperous cities and towns. Despite this, the strength of their wider local economies means they are well placed to recover quickly from the past two years.”

“The bigger concern is for economically weaker places – primarily in the North and Midlands – where Covid-19 has actually paused their long-term decline. To help them avoid a wave of high street closures this year the Government must set out how it plans to increase peoples’ skills and pay to give them the income needed to sustain a thriving high street. Many of these places are in the so-called Red Wall so there is a political imperative for the Government to act fast, as well as an economic one.”

Centre for Cities data shows that from March 2020 to September 2021 suburbs outperformed city centres considerably. City centres lost 28 weeks’ worth of sales while suburban areas lost nine weeks'.

The report further mentions that while stronger cities have borne the economic brunt of the pandemic, their higher levels of affluence mean that, if restrictions end and office workers return, they will likely recover quickly.

Meanwhile, while government support has sheltered weaker places, it may have simply “stored up pain for the future”, says the report, warning that many less prosperous places in the North and Midlands face a wave of new business closures this year.