background preloader

State of the UK High street

Facebook Twitter

BRC Business Information Services - Stats and Facts. Stats and Facts Annual retail sales (excluding automotive fuel) - £billions All Months All Months All Quarters All Quarters On 26 May 2011, the rules about cookies on websites changed. Click for more info on how we use cookies. CLONE TOWNS. Retail capacity birmingham. Pop-up shops and entrepreneurs to prosper from high street changes - Announcements. New proposals to re-activate empty shops and reclaim underused street space Communities Secretary Eric Pickles today highlighted government proposals to scrap restrictions that put off start-up businesses from temporarily using empty high street shops that can help attract shoppers back to more family friendly town centres.

Temporary or ‘pop-up’ shops often utilise vacant high street premises until a permanent tenant can be found. One of the barriers to start-up firms can be planning rules that control what type of business a shop can and can’t be used for. The proposals would scale back the red tape that causes shop owners costly delays securing planning permission, over £1200 on average, before a disused shop can be used for a different purpose. Landlords would instead be free to temporarily change the use of an empty shop for two years, something currently not automatically permitted. A new guide also published today shows how use of high street areas can help attract customers. Www.maryportas.com/wp-content/uploads/The_Portas_Review.pdf. The UK ‘Networked’ High St | Niki Gomez.

Report: From UK High Street to Networked High Street - Retail Technologies Contribution to Bill Grimsey’s UK High St White Paper. By Eva Pascoe & Niki Gomez 17 July 2013 This is the retail technology contribution to the Future of Retail White Paper to be delivered to the House of Commons on 4th Sept as part of the Bill Grimsey Review. It builds on the Review of the UK High St by Mary Portas. It is an aid for town planners and retailers in particular. We would welcome feedback so please tweet or mail us. In particular if you have any new technologies that are relevant. Contents Part One: Ringing the Changes p.2 Part Two: You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet p.5 Part Three: Our Methodology: Your Town’s Digital Fit p.7 Part Four: Future Scenarios p.10 Part One: Ringing the changes The history of the UK high street shows that since its inception in the 1870’s, it has always been intimately connected to changes in technology.

Collapsing the Distance An electronic shop at risk, in Bicester High St. Social Shopping. The history of the high street. British high street footfall drops 3.4% before Christmas retail rush | Business. Britain's high streets have suffered their biggest drop in shopper numbers for more than a year, according to a report that indicates a slow start to the festive retail season. The British Retail Consortium's latest numbers also showed a drop in footfall for out-of-town shops and for shopping centres, echoing sales data that has pointed to a tentative mood among Christmas shoppers. The BRC's figures, supplied by Springboard, revealed a 3.4% annual drop in footfall for high streets from September to November, the sharpest fall since August 2012. For November alone, footfall was down 2.9% on a year ago across all shop types. This matched October's drop and was largely caused by a 4.2% fall in high-street shoppers.

All regions reported a decline in footfall, and the steepest drop was in the West Midlands. Helen Dickinson, BRC's director general, said the November fall "tallies with recent signs in our sales data that festive spending has got off to a slow but steady start". London transport fares 2014: Prices frozen 'in real terms' 3 December 2013Last updated at 12:37 ET Some Tube season ticketholders will see a rise of 1% above inflation Most transport fares in London are to rise by the rate of inflation, it has been announced.

The average fare will rise by 3.1%, the retail price index rate which mayor Boris Johnson said was a "freeze in real terms". But prices for season tickets on travelcards will go up by 4.1%. Most pay-as-you-go Tube fares will not rise. On buses and trams, PAYG single fare will rise by 5p to £1.45 and seven-day travelcards go up by 4.1%, to £20.40. But both the daily price cap and the £2.40 cash fare for a single bus journey will be frozen. Peak and off-peak single fares on the Tube, DLR and Overground Zone 1 and off-peak single Zone 1-2 will rise by 10p, while cash fares will increase by 20p. One-day fare caps on Oyster and contactless cards will be unchanged, which Transport for London said would benefit about 200,000 people a week. 'Real pressure' Global recession timeline. 8 February 2007: HSBC WARNS OF SUBPRIME LOSSES HSBC reveals huge losses at its US mortgage arm Household Finance due to subprime losses, in one of the first signs that the US housing market is turning sour, and that it could have a knock-on effect on the global financial sector.

Full story 2 April 2007: NEW CENTURY GOES BUST New Century Financial, a leading subprime lender, files for bankruptcy. 9 August 2007: CREDIT MARKETS FREEZE Credit markets go into freefall after Paribas announces that two of its hedge funds are frozen due to "complete evaporation of liquidity" in asset backed security market. 14 September 2007: RUN ON THE ROCK Savers in beleaguered UK former building society Northern Rock begin withdrawing their savings after the BBC reveals the bank has received emergency financial support from the Bank of England. 17 March 2008: BEAR STEARNS RESCUE 7 September 2008: FANNIE MAE RESCUE 15 September 2008: LEHMAN BROTHERS GOES BANKRUPT 17 September 2008: LLOYDS TAKES OVER HBOS. Is the UK High Street in Terminal Decline? :: Silverman Sherliker LLP Solicitors. The timing of such announcements usually coincides with one of the quarter days (25th March, 24th June, 29th September and 25th December) when the rents for retail tenants fall due and payable.

All too often, this can be the tipping point for a struggling retailer. In recent months, we have learnt of the demise of more retailers than at any time since the current recession began in 2007. Recent casualties include Habitat (other than its three most profitable stores in London), TJ Hughes, Jane Norman, Homeform (owners of Moben and Dolphin kitchen brands), Oddbins and Thorntons. This will result in the closure of hundreds of retail units nationwide, the vast majority of which are located on High Streets, and the loss of thousands of jobs. Vacancy rates outside of seemingly recession-proof London are now up to 30 percent in many UK towns and cities, with the percentage still rising. So, why is this happening? There are other factors too. Retail Sales, October 2013. One in five high street shops to close by 2018 as stores face onslaught from online shopping. BRITAIN's shrinking high streets could soon become even smaller, with a new study suggesting one in five shops could close by 2018.

Some 62,000 shops could shut, with up to 316,000 workers losing their jobs, and large areas of the UK's high streets will be turned into housing, according to the report from the Centre for Retail Research (CRR). See The Business for The Week's daily news round-up The BBC notes the report predicts the first retailers to close will be pharmacies and health and beauty stores, with shops specialising in music, books, cards, stationery and gifts the next to disappear.

DIY stores will also be hit. The CRR blames the rise in online shopping for the projected closures, pointing out it costs around £10,000 per month to open a small shop on a high street in the Midlands but only £650-£1,800 per month to set up a warehouse operation on the outskirts of a similar town. As The Times reports, the study paints a bleak picture.

Why is the Retail Industry facing decline? - Libertas. The pressures of running a modern retail operation are strenuous at the best of times, but in the current financial climate it can be like walking a tightrope. Consumer spending has altered dramatically over the last year or so, with people clearly differentiating between ‘essential’ and ‘luxury’ items. According to results published by the Association of Business Recovery Professionals; in excess of half of customers are purchasing fewer luxury items, with a quarter buying items on sale rather than at full cost. Whilst the general downturn in trade represents a source of worry for the industry, other factors are beginning to have an impact in a far more serious way. Our recent involvement with retail companies has identified additional pressures being applied; those not purely derived by the change in attitude mentioned above.

It seems clear that during the recent recession people faced difficult choices, but largely speaking, spending power and consumer behaviour remained predictable. British Retail Consortium - Retails Stats & Info. British Retail Consortium - Retails Stats & Info.

E-Commerce

Www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171778_349320.pdf. Www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171778_259059.pdf. Www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171778_349320.pdf.