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Published on 27 - June - 2012
 
Empty shops scourge "could have peaked"
The rise in town centre shop vacancy rates appears to have peaked, according to new research released this week.

The vacancy rate was static for three months, and fell in May
The vacancy rate was static for three months, and fell in May


LDC director Matthew Hopkinson described the decrease as "an encouraging improvement in shop vacancy rates nationally, albeit a small one.

"The good news is that the shops vacancy rate has stabilised within the 14-14.6% range since August 2010, whilst prior to this we recorded a threefold increase."

He suggested that the seamlessness of omnichannel retailing could be contributing to the stability and that the rise in the number of vacant shops in Britain may now have been halted - "assuming that nothing unforeseen happens to the UK economy and that this month's quarter rent day doesn't trigger any retailer administrations".

He added that as the rise in empty shops appears to have peaked, now was the time to take positive action to address the 23,406 shops that lie empty in Britain's top 650 town centres and a similar number outside of them.



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28/06/2012 13:11:00
Empty shops scourge
By John Folwer
And maybe England will win the Euros.. No they are out.. My view is it will get worse yet with more empty shops, High rates, high Rents, and the Internet sales ever increasing, only make it worse for the High street .. unless a few more Charity shops spring up..


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