By Emma Weinbren2021-03-11T15:34:00+00:00
The pandemic has accelerated the high street’s decline. Is government support the answer, or does the concept need a wholesale rethink?
It was 40 years ago that Coventry band The Specials sang about ghost towns. At the time, the song was seen as a comment on urban decay and deprivation in inner cities. But it could just as well be an anthem for the Covid-19 era.
The latest statistics around the high street make for alarming reading. The constant cycle of lockdowns has crippled footfall, which reached an all-time low last May, when the British Retail Consortium reported a 77.8% year-on-year decline.