UK high streets are recovering

Posted on Tuesday, November 30, 2021

  • The past 18 months have been tough for UK high streets due to Covid-19 restrictions in early 2020 which triggered a hollowing-out of city centres.
  • Footfall and spend analysis from the Centre or Cities/Locomizer suggests that UK cities have begun to recover (despite increased online shopping) but at varying degrees.
  • Small/medium sized cities and large towns have recovered the most. Large cities have recovered the least and continue to struggle due to upward trend in remote working.
  • Thriving places are those with a catchment of high disposable incomes, large number of workers commuting in (even if flexibly) and have shifted businesses located in them. Source: Dataloft, Centre for Cities, Locomizer