Research by the Local Data Company who keep an eye on 3,000 retail parks, town and shopping centres has reported one in five shops in the North are empty with the North East being the worst affected, in comparison with one in 10 shops in the South, London being the best region.
The company has said that vacancy rates have fallen since 2012 with an average vacancy rate of 13.3% in the second half of last year which was down 0.8% for the same time the year before. Matthew Hopkinson director of Local Data Company said “the worst-performing towns all had vacancy rates above 25%, "which is still one in four shops lying empty and no sign or improvement". He added “its research also found that 20% of the shops it tracked had been empty for more than three years, amounting to almost 10,000 outlets.
"This is the equivalent of five Manchesters lying empty,"
