Services such as cafés, markets, and tattoo parlours have
thrived even as major retailers struggle amid concerns for the
future of the UK high street, new analysis from Which?
reveals.
The consumer champion analysed almost 1.5 million Ordnance
Survey (OS) business records to compare Britain’s retail and
services landscape from 2014 to 2019 – and found many high
streets moving away from being carbon copies of one
another.
Instead, a model more familiar to older generations is
re-emerging in some areas – with flourishing personal services,
markets, and food specialists that focus on ‘experiences’
replacing retailers hit directly by the rise of online
shopping.
The analysis found businesses offering personal services
that cannot be replicated easily online – such as hair and beauty
services, tattoo and piercing shops, and funeral directors – have
boomed.
Of the 10 sectors that have seen an increase in premises on
UK high streets, six are categorised as ‘eating out and
services’, with the biggest increase since 2014 seen in
banqueting and function rooms (114%).
This was followed by markets, one of the few sectors
categorised as a retailer in the top 10, which saw an increase of
52 per cent between 2014 and 2019.
Tattooing and piercing services increased their presence on
the high street by 44 per cent; cafés, snack bars and tea rooms
by 35 per cent; and hair and beauty services by 31 per
cent.
Of the 10 hardest hit sectors, only two were categorised as
offering personal services – fast food delivery services (-50%)
and internet cafés (-36%). The rest were categorised as
retailers.
The most negatively impacted sector was book and map
sellers – the first to be hit by the rise of Amazon – which saw a
reduction of 70 per cent over the five-year period.
Other sectors to suffer include computer shops (-56%),
shops selling second hand supplies (-44%), electrical goods and
components sellers (-39%) and art and antique stores
(-41%).
Glasgow City saw the biggest growth in outlets categorised
as ‘personal services’ in the five year period, with a 61 per
cent increase in premises of this kind.
Coastal towns Eastbourne and Hastings both saw considerable
decreases in the number of retail outlets on their high streets
(down 18 per cent and 15 per cent respectively), however both
also saw significant increases in the presence of ‘personal
service’ businesses (both up by 41 per cent), illustrating the
shift in demand for services over retail outlets.
While Torbay and Islington saw the biggest decreases in
retail outlets over the same period, with both dropping by 20 per
cent, both also saw the number of personal services on their high
streets increase by a quarter (24% and 25%, respectively).
Despite ongoing concerns regarding the ‘death of the high
street’, businesses offering services or experiences that cannot
be replicated online have prospered in the face of the booming
digital economy.
These traders can also function as effective drivers of
footfall to other businesses, with many traditional retailers now
pivoting towards offering these kinds of services
in-store.
A number of department stores and fashion chains, such as
Topshop, have started offering hair and beauty services or coffee
shops, and some even offering tattoo and piercing services within
their stores, in an effort to keep pace with the changing high
street landscape.
Some computing, phone and electronic shops have also jumped
on this trend, with many increasingly becoming destinations for
repairs or advice rather than places to purchase goods.
The analysis suggests that in order to thrive in the face
of the growing digital economy, UK high streets need to become
wise to the unique role they can play in consumers’ lives,
offering services that cannot be replicated online to act as an
anchor for bringing people into town centres.
Harry Rose, Editor, Which? magazine, said:
“While it’s concerning to have seen so many well-loved
brands disappear from UK high streets in recent years, our
research suggests the future of our town centres isn’t
necessarily as bleak as the reports of store closures would have
you believe.
“As shoppers needs and habits evolve, it’s vital that
businesses keep up with these changing trends and consider how
they can grow with them, in order to continue thriving on the
high street.”
Notes to editors
-
Which? analysed Ordnance Survey’s Points of Interest
data from 2014 and 2019. The analysis looked at all retail
sectors, as well as a selection of personal services
categories, predefined in the OS data.
-
Businesses were matched to towns and cities using
shapefiles in the Office for National Statistics’s Core Urban
Audit Core Cities data.
-
The full analysis appears in the November issue of
Which? Magazine.
