UK’s worst performing high streets miss out on second phase of government funding
Struggling UK high streets have missed out on the second phase of Government funding, with money instead being opened up to local authorities that sit within more marginal Parliamentary constituencies.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson last month announced the second phase of the Future High Street Fund, a £1bn investment now available to 100 towns in England to submit plans for the reinvention of their high streets.
Strategic retail property consultanc,y Harper Dennis Hobbs, found that of the ten English local authorities with town centres in most need of investment, only Rotherham was included in the second phase of funding, based on Harper Dennis Hobbs’ Vitality Index, an analysis of more than 1,000 UK shopping districts.
Jonathan De Mello, head of retail consultancy at Harper Dennis Hobbs, said: “Of the ten English local authorities we have identified as having the worst performing retail centres, just one [Rotherham] has been shortlisted for funding. It is disappointing that some of the local authorities most in need of further rejuvenation – such as Gedling in Nottinghamshire, Salford in Greater Manchester and Knowsley in Merseyside, are likely to miss out, possibly due to political decisions.”
English local authorities with the least ‘healthy’ retail centres:
- Walsall
- Doncaster, Yorkshire
- West Lancashire
- Rochford, Essex
- Blaenau Gwent
- Inverclyde, Renfrewshire
- Salford, Greater Manchester
- Gedling, Nottinghamshire
- Eden, Cumbria
- Rotherham, South Yorkshire
- Knowsley, Merseyside
