Pandemic cost some high streets nearly a year’s worth of sales

Covid-19 has cost businesses in cities and large town centres more than a third of their potential takings since March 2020, according to a new report from Centre for Cities.

The report found that Central London is worst affected – losing 47 weeks of sales between the first lockdown and Omicron’s onset – with businesses in Birmingham, Edinburgh and Cardiff also among the worst hit.

Across the 52 city and town centres studied, Centre for Cities found that 2,426 commercial units have become vacant during the pandemic, against 1,374 between 2018 and 2020.

Burnley’s city centre lost the fewest weeks of sales (8 weeks) during the pandemic, followed by Warrington and Huddersfield.

The report, titled Cities Outlook 2022, finds that high streets in economically weaker places have been less impacted by Covid-19.

In the years before it hit, store vacancy rates in the centres of places such as Newport, Sunderland and Blackpool increased by around 3.6 percentage points. Since 2020 this has surprisingly fallen to 2.5 percentage points – despite restrictions.

Meanwhile in economically stronger places, business closures increased by 3.5 percentage points during the pandemic – up from 1.4 percentage points in the two years before.         

Centre for Cities concludes that the data suggests the government’s Covid-19 support successfully stalled the decline of many struggling high streets but was less effective in economically stronger places due to higher rents and a lack of custom from office workers.

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.’

In related news, having a strong independent retail offering, year-round cultural events and family-friendly activities are key to sustaining successful town centres in the future, according to a new survey published by the Institute of Economic Development (IED) and Lichfields.

Photo by Artur Kraft