{"id":167038,"date":"2020-07-31T08:52:00","date_gmt":"2020-07-31T08:52:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theindustry.fashion\/increase-in-empty-shops-as-high-streets-and-shopping-centres-hit-by-lockdown\/"},"modified":"2021-08-06T12:06:42","modified_gmt":"2021-08-06T12:06:42","slug":"increase-in-empty-shops-as-high-streets-and-shopping-centres-hit-by-lockdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theindustry.fashion\/increase-in-empty-shops-as-high-streets-and-shopping-centres-hit-by-lockdown\/","title":{"rendered":"Increase in empty shops as high streets and shopping centres hit by lockdown"},"content":{"rendered":"
The number of empty shops increased across the UK over the past three months<\/strong> after the impact of the coronavirus lockdown, according to new figures.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The quarterly BRC-LDC vacancy monitor revealed that 12.4% of all shop units were vacant in the three months to the end of June.<\/strong><\/p>\n This represented a slight uptick from 12.2% in the first quarter, in the eighth consecutive quarter of increasing vacancy rates.<\/strong><\/p>\n Helen Dickinson, CEO of the British Retail Consortium (BRC), said the rise was \u201cmodest as government support allowed many locations to survive lockdown<\/strong>\u201d.<\/p>\n All types of shopping destination saw vacancy rates increase, with shopping centres having the highest proportion of empty units,<\/strong> at 14.3%, after rising from 14.1% in the previous quarter.\u00a0High streets saw the vacancy rate nudge higher to 12.4% for the quarter, from 12.3%.<\/p>\n Retail parks, which have seen steadier footfall since coronavirus hit, reported the lowest vacancy rate, at 8.3%, although this also represented an increase after posting 8.2% in the previous quarter.<\/p>\n Dickinson addedd: \u201cCovid has accelerated many of the changes in retailing already under way.\u00a0Online continues to grow and retail stores should also have a vital role in our communities,<\/strong> supporting jobs and other businesses which rely on retail footfall.<\/p>\n \u201cThe shuttering of too many shops on our high streets will threaten the vibrancy of town centres and damage local economies<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n The report also revealed that London saw the highest increase in empty units,<\/strong> rising to 9.1%, as it was particularly hammered by the virus.<\/p>\n Lucy Stainton, head of retail and strategic partnerships at the Local Data Company (LDC), said: \u201cSince 2018, retail vacancy has risen steadily across the UK, in part due to the widely-discussed oversupply of retail property given changing consumer demands.<\/p>\n \u201cDespite seeing an initial jump in vacancy in Q2, it is still too soon to measure the full impact of the pandemic<\/strong> as almost half of the non-essential retail units that were eligible to reopen following 15 June were still temporarily closed as of 1 July.<\/p>\n \u201cOver the coming months, we are forecasting a spike in vacancy<\/strong> as the real fallout of the pandemic is felt.\u201d<\/p>\n