A new survey by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) shows that one in 10 shops in the UK are empty, the highest ratio since the BRC began collecting figures in July 2011.
The BRC said that the vacancy rate has now reached 11.3% in a further sign that the traditional model for retailers of opening stores on the high street or in out-of-town retail business parks is failing.
The figures showed that the region with the highest vacancy rate was Northern Ireland with 20%, followed by Wales, the north and Yorkshire, all with vacancy rates of around 15%.
The BRC said that footfall by 0.4% in the three months to October compared to the same quarter in 2011 and that there was a significant decline in the month itself with footfall down by 2.6%.
There was a bigger decline in footfall in high street stores, 0.9%, than in shops in out-of-town retail parks where there was a decline of just 0.2%.
The locations that saw the biggest declines in the quarter were the East down 4.1%, the South West down 4% and Scotland down 3.9%.
Stephen Robertson, director general at the BRC, said: “This new high in empty shop numbers really sets alarm bells ringing. It's the worst vacancy rate since the survey began in July 2011 and confirms that financial challenges for both customers and retailers are far from over.
“Many retailers are battling stagnating sales and rising costs, and next year's threatened business rates increase can only make matters worse. If the Government wants to breathe life back into our town centres and ensure the retail industry can play its full role in job creation it needs to freeze rates in 2013.
“It's a little more cheering to see footfall suffering less than the previous quarter but shopper numbers were still no better than a year ago. The figures follow a similar pattern to our retail sales monitoring. September's cold snap drew the crowds stocking up on warmer clothing. But, while the Olympics appears to have brought people out onto high streets, that didn't translate into a surge in spending.”
