Store Vacancies Hit New High Level
Updated: 11:50am UK, Monday 20 May 2013
A surge in shopping centre vacancies means almost one in every eight British stores is now empty, according to a new survey.
Empty shops now account for 11.9% of retail space, after failures including Comet and Jessops knocked holes in the shopping hubs and out-of-town retail parks.
The percentage of UK shop vacancies in April worsened from 10.9% in January and was the highest rate since the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Springboard survey began in 2011.
It said high streets have been "vastly outperforming" malls and retail parks, boosted by a 5% increase in evening drinkers, diners and clubbers.
The retail sector has been battered by a wave of failures this year, with entertainment retailer HMV and camera chain Jessops both entering administration in January.
Electricals retailer Comet slumped into administration in November.
BRC director general Helen Dickinson said: "It's a major concern that the vacancy rate has reached a record high, driven by increases in almost every part of the UK, with some regions like the South West seeing a significant leap in empty shop numbers."
But rising temperatures lifted April footfall 1% on a year earlier, a marked improvement on the 5.2% fall in March, as more shoppers ventured out compared with a rainy April 2012.
Ms Dickinson added: "The unsettled weather at the start of the month seems to have created pent-up demand, which brought many of us out to shop when more spring-like weather finally made an appearance."
High street footfall was up 3.4%, the strongest performance since December 2011, but shopping centre visitors fell 3%.
Greater London was the strongest-performing region with footfall rising 4.2% and just 7.4% of its shops vacant.
Footfall in Northern Ireland slumped 6.4% in April, while its shop vacancy rate hit 18.1%. In Wales, shoppers were down 2.1%, with a vacancy rate of 17.9%.
The South West saw footfall slide 1.3% and shop vacancies hit 14%.
The UK's surging vacancy rate follows recent downbeat sales figures from the BRC, which showed retail sales slumped at the fastest rate for a year in April as the timing of Easter and a freezing start to the month offset improvements in fashion and beauty.
Like-for-like sales fell 2.2% in April from a year earlier, with the early Easter hitting food sales in particular, it said.
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