The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has demanded “proactive steps” be taken to improve the country’s shopping hubs – with figures showing that more than one in 10 high street shops now lie empty.
Last week, the BRC published a report claiming that the town centre vacancy rate reached 11.6% in May.
The report also highlighted a 2.6% year-on-year decline in high street footfall, and blamed a number of systemic problems for limiting consumer spending – including high inflation, wage stagnation and job uncertainty.
Now
the BRC is stressing the need for collaborative action to repair Britain’s high-street retail cores.
Sarah Cordey, a spokesperson for the BRC, told Growing Business: “We have been arguing for a long time that our high streets are too valuable for their fate to be left to chance.
“What we believe is needed is proactive management of our high street shopping areas, meaning that retailers, other businesses, local authorities and town centre managers all work together to monitor the health of their high streets, and take proactive steps at the first signs of any trouble.”
Cordey added that, while shop owners “do not expect hand-outs” from the government, the coalition could do more to improve trading conditions for retailers by making business rates “more predictable” and reducing “unnecessary red tape and regulation.”
However she said that “a lot of high street regeneration has to come from a local authority level. That will include having an attractive street scene, good access, affordable and easily accessible parking, for landlords to be reasonable in the rates that they set.”