13/09/2010 - Divide in shop vacancy rates - LDC
The number of vacant shops in the North is higher than that in the South, despite a slowdown in the rate of closures across the UK, new figures have shown.
According to the Local Data Company (LDC), the number of empty shops in town centres rose from just over 12% at the end of last year to 13% in June.
Blackpool has the highest number of empty shops, at 30% - double the vacancy rate in Southern cities such as Bristol.
Some 10 of the 63 large centres examined across Britain - including Bath, Guildford, central London, Cardiff and Liverpool - showed an improvement over the last six months.
Only 73 of the 400 medium-sized centres improved over the past half year.
Of these, 72 are in the southern half of the country, Grantham in Lincolnshire being the only exceptions.
The study said: "This data shows vacancy increasing in a majority of centres and, more worryingly, particularly in those centres where the budget and job cuts proposed for the public sector will begin to bite.
"Combined with the increase in VAT in January, this will likely be a double blow for the big retail centres in the North and Midlands particularly."
Copyright © Press Association 2010
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