A new report has warned that Britain’s high streets could be at risk of terminal decline unless swift and sustained action is taken to reverse their recent fortunes.
According to the Daily Telegraph, a review conducted by retail adviser and journalist Mary Portas stated that decades of “erosion, neglect and mismanagement” have ruined town centres across the UK, with an estimated average of 20 shops closing every day this year.
“I believe that our high streets can be lively, dynamic, exciting and social places that give a sense of belonging and trust to a community,” Ms Portas says in the report. “A sense of belonging which, as the recent riots demonstrated, has been eroded and in some instances eradicated.”
However, the study stops short of criticising out-of-town supermarkets and shopping centres for drawing customers away from traditional town centre retail hotspots, instead arguing that they have merely given consumers more choice and indicating that a wide-ranging high street revamp is required.
Trade body the Association of Convenience Stores last month urged the government to give local communities greater control over which shops trade in their area.
