High street retail jobs fall in every region except London

The number of high street retail jobs fell in every region of England, Scotland and Wales except for London between 2012 and 2017, figures show.

While high street retail jobs grew by 6 per cent over the five years in the capital, Wales suffered the steepest slump of 10 per cent, followed by Scotland (8.6 per cent), Yorkshire and the Humber (7 per cent), the East (5.7 per cent) and the East Midlands (4.9 per cent), the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported.

However, high street employment within the accommodation and food sector surged by more than 20 per cent in every country and region.

The number of businesses overall on the high street increased by 15 per cent between 2012 and 2017, compared with a 22 per cent increase in non-high street areas, the first joint project between the ONS and Ordnance Survey shows.

But the number of retail businesses fell by 2 per cent during this time, while those based elsewhere grew by 6 per cent.

The figures are more evidence of a difficult environment for high street retailers over the period and precede two more years of torrid conditions that saw a series of major names collapsing into administration.

The report also shows that the retail sector provided between 25 per cent and 31 per cent of high street employment in all regions and countries of Great Britain except London, where it reached 18 per cent.

In 2017, around 10.3 million people, or 16 per cent of the British population, lived within 200 metres of a high street.

High street areas saw a 6 per cent population growth over the five years, compared with 3 per cent in non-high street areas.

The ONS noted that the high street was in a “period of change”, saying: “The closure of branches of retailers across many high streets has led to worries about the decline of retail on the high street, and in turn anxiety about how high streets will develop in the future.

“In this context, it is important that good data on high streets are available to monitor the changes and inform policy responses.

“Therefore, the ONS and Ordnance Survey have joined together to identify high streets across Great Britain and to produce some initial analysis that investigates a range of data comparing the recent trends on the high street with those in non-high street areas.”

PA