Stats reflect gloomy UK high street performance

According to Reuters this morning, the number of empty shops in Britain hit its highest rate in four years in July, impacting those involved in the retail sector supply chain.

The data comes from survey by researcher Springboard, which found the national town centre vacancy rate was 10.3% in July, up from 10.2% in the previous quarter and the highest since January 2015. Shopper footfall also fell by 1.9%, the worst decline for July since 2012. It was down 2.7% on UK high streets and down 3.1% at shopping centres but up 1.2% at retail parks. Another survey from the British Retail Consortium (BRC), published earlier this month, showed British retailers reported the weakest July sales growth since records began.