Decline of the High Street: A quarter are failing as shops struggle to survive in economic climate

Almost a quarter of high streets are said to be ‘failing’ as a gap grows between the best and worst town centres.

Empty shops have triggered a downward spiral on high streets in 83 out of 365 towns, according to a survey by property consultants Colliers International.

Towns on the list include Bootle in Merseyside, Dunstable in  Bedfordshire, and Walsall in the West Midlands.

Some City analysts have put this down to the number of bank holidays we have had around Easter and the Royal wedding.

Paul Moody, from property consultancy Colliers, told the Financial Times: 'In most cases it is worse in the towns we monitored than it was last year.

'Retailers are migrating to the best-performing areas. Once you have rents falling and voids starting to grow in certain towns, it becomes a downward spiral.'

Colliers warned these 'terminal towns' would struggle to find public or private finance to spur future growth and were becoming dominated by pound stores and fast-food chains.

Shoppers are being drawn to out-of-town shopping centres and supermarkets in pursuit of a more affordable deal, Colliers found.

More than a quarter of towns are 'thriving', Colliers said, including market towns with loyal catchments or those with buoyant tourist demand, such as Brighton, Stratford-upon-Avon and Harrogate.

But just 3 per cent are designated as 'improving', including Barnsley, Ealing and Maidenhead, suggesting the number of thriving towns is unlikely to grow.

Retail rents increased in a greater proportion of towns than in the previous survey - 13 per cent in 2010 compared with 9% in 2009.

Colliers' analysis is based on historic and future indicators, including retail rents and vacancies, population growth or decline and employment prospects.

The number of vacant stores has fallen from 11.4% to 9.7%, according to Colliers, but the figure was skewed by quick-fix solutions such as pop-up shops and short-term lettings.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2004646/Quarter-high-streets-failing-survey-says-shops-failing-survive.html#ixzz1ZvDeehaO