The performance is driven by its exceptionally high density of active retail businesses (27.5 per sq km) and the lowest vacancy rate among the top three at 7.4%.<\/p>\n
As the UK\u2019s largest city and economic hub, its scale and footfall naturally support stronger retail resilience. Despite a modest increase in footfall of 4.76% over the past year, the capital\u2019s spending power and economic output, reflected in a GDHI of \u00a325,739, firmly cement its position at the top.<\/p>\n
Manchester takes second place, combining strong business dynamism with one of the highest business birth-to-death ratios in the ranking (1.24), signalling a healthy level of entrepreneurial activity. However, this growth is set against challenges, including a 10.5% vacancy rate and a 6.46% decline in monthly footfall.<\/p>\n
Even so, with high retail density and a solid GDHI of \u00a316,814, Manchester\u2019s high streets remain active and evolving, reflecting a city in transition rather than decline.<\/p>\n
Glasgow ranks third, showing a strong balance of retail activity and business survival, with a birth-to-death ratio of 1.21 and relatively low vacancy compared with other major cities at 11.7%.<\/p>\n
While footfall has fallen by 3.5%, the city maintains a steady retail presence with 13.3 active businesses per sq km. With a GDHI of \u00a317,463, Glasgow\u2019s high streets reflect a mix of resilience and pressure, still busy and functional, but facing the same broader shifts in consumer behaviour seen across the UK.<\/p>\n
On the other side of the scale, Wakefield ranks as the weakest high street, showing extremely low retail density with just 0.9 active businesses per sq km and a vacancy rate of 14.4%.<\/p>\n
While the business birth-to-death ratio remains marginally positive at 1.03, this is not enough to offset an 8.98% decline in monthly retail footfall. With a GDHI of \u00a317,314, the city\u2019s high street reflects very limited commercial activity and ongoing pressure on consumer demand.<\/p>\n
Sunderland ranks second weakest, with 2.9 active retail businesses per sq km and the highest vacancy rate overall at 16.8%.<\/p>\n
Although the business birth-to-death ratio sits at 1.09, indicating some new business activity, this is outweighed by a 7.33% drop in retail footfall over the past year.<\/p>\n
Further findings from the study include:<\/p>\n
Over a third (34%) of Brits said they would be encouraged to visit more if there were more independent and local shops.
\nAlmost two in five (39%) of Brits believe their high street is in decline, with more than a third of Brits (38%) believing there are too many vape shops.<\/p>\n
Rank
\nCity
\nNumber of active retail businesses per sq kilometre
\nShare of high street services vacant (%)
\nBusiness Birth-to-Death Ratio
\nMonthly Retail footfall change in the past year (%)
\nGDHI*<\/p>\n
Strongest<\/p>\n
1
\nLondon
\n27.5
\n7.4%
\n1.16
\n4.76
\n\u00a325,739<\/p>\n
2
\nManchester
\n26.7
\n10.5%
\n1.24
\n-6.46
\n\u00a316,814<\/p>\n
3
\nGlasgow
\n13.3
\n11.7%
\n1.21
\n-3.5
\n\u00a317,463<\/p>\n
4
\nLiverpool
\n14.3
\n9.5%
\n1.15
\n-6.46
\n\u00a316,201<\/p>\n
5
\nBrighton and Hove
\n17.0
\n9.2%
\n1.04
\n-10.41
\n\u00a320,887<\/p>\n
Weakest<\/p>\n
1
\nWakefield
\n0.9
\n14.40%
\n1.03
\n-8.98
\n\u00a317,314<\/p>\n
2
\nSunderland
\n2.9
\n16.80%
\n1.09
\n-7.33
\n\u00a316,058<\/p>\n
3
\nStoke-on-Trent
\n8.0
\n16.30%
\n1.07
\n-9.72
\n\u00a315,716<\/p>\n
4
\nCardiff
\n7.2
\n12.40%
\n1.10
\n-14.24
\n\u00a316,378<\/p>\n
5
\nKingston-upon-Hull
\n9.1
\n15.10%
\n1.13
\n-8.98
\n\u00a314,774<\/p>\n
*Gross Disposable Household Income per capita<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The performance is driven by its exceptionally high density of active retail businesses (27.5 per sq km) and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":60846,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2],"tags":[13,12868],"class_list":["post-61061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-britain","tag-britain","tag-high-streets"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116733031629234133","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61061","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61061"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61061\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60846"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61061"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61061"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61061"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}