The average availability of retail units across Great Britain’s top streets was 9.8% at 1 August 2010, down from 11.1% in May, according to research by Cushman & Wakefield.
The average availability of retail units across Great Britain’s top streets was 9.8% at 1 August 2010, down from 11.1% in May, according to research by Cushman & Wakefield.
This is the lowest level of retail availability recorded in the last 18 months. The figure includes the stores of a number of retailers that are in administration, some 1.4% of the total number of shops surveyed. The analysis covers the main retail thoroughfares of the top town and city centres (excluding out-of-town regional shopping centres, factory outlet centres or retail parks).
While retailers remain cautious there has been a marginal improvement in retail market sentiment over the past six months which appears to have filtered through to retail availability levels, the adviser said. Stronger operators are capitalising on previous failures and expanding their market share. Availability as a consequence of administration remains a diminishing factor and continues to decline.
Overall availability has fallen by 1.3% over the last three months from May 2010. The number of retail units available within the key retail areas as a consequence of administration has also decreased marginally by 0.21%. Compared with a year ago, the overall level of availability within the main areas has fallen from 12.6% in 2009 to 9.8% at present.
