As much as £5bn needed to revive UK’s struggling high streets, study finds | Retail industry

When he was in a study, there is a need to revive the town of England and the city centers to revive the town of England and the city centers, Bradford in Bradford in Yorkshire, Newport in South Wales and Blackpool in Lancashire and London.

A report from Cities Center Thinkank showed that the health of high streets throughout the country has changed significantly and asked the authorities to focus on developing houses and high -wage jobs in central places to increase local expenditure power.

Retailers called for a deduction in job rates, lower employment taxes and cheaper parking fees to help revitalize high streets.

In the report, the reform of the “defective” job rates system was not enough to revive the high streets struggling in local economies because many property did not pay rates.

Andrew Carter, General Manager of Cities Center, said: “Our research shows that High Street is not failed everywhere.

“Struggling city centers are full of shops and are inadequate with people. If local residents do not have the money to spend or if there is no reason to be in the center, no matter what high streets – whatever interventions.”

For example, in more wealthy areas, high streets, as some of the traditional shopping activities changed online, managed to shift towards food and drinking and other leisure activities, because inhabitants have spare money to spend on those who are not necessary.

In the city center in the poorer areas where less people live, the lack of expenditure power means that this change has not taken place and financing is needed to bring people back.

“A struggle street is the result of the struggle [local] The economy is not the opposite ..

In more wealthy York, London and Edinburgh, it is spent on eating about £ 1 at every £ £ and relatively a small number of stores are empty -just 9%. The gap rate in London was 7.4%. However, in Bradford, Stoke and Wigan, which are among the highest space rates, are approximately £ 1 at every £ 1 and gap rates are more than 16%.

The spending power of a local population is not only with high wage jobs, but also to measure the number of people in a basin compared to a high street size.

The fight has a relatively high store for population compared to successful city centers such as Newport, Blackpool and Sunderland, Oxford, Brighton or Liverpool.

Although York has a relatively high shop ratio for its population, it has a strong tourism trade, something that all cities cannot develop.

The report also found that some places such as Swindon and Slough have a strong local economy, but stores that consumers competed mainly in non -city business parks.

The British retail consortium, representing most of the major retailer, said: “The city centers need a mixture of businesses, including shopping and hospitality that makes a city a place that people want to be.

“However, investment in city centers continues to be taken back by the old job rates system that limits the ability to invest in stores and jobs that are vital for the daily economy.”