COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

Almost one fifth of shops in Coventry city centre are empty, according to new research.



The city ranks as the 25th worst in the country for vacant shops – with a five per cent rise in the number of empty units since last year.

Coventry’s vacancy rate now stands at 18.3 per cent.

But Alan Durham, director of Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, believes the picture will improve significantly once redevelopment schemes in the city are completed.

“There are a lot of exciting plans to redevelop the city centre,” Mr Durham said. “But there will be a little bit of a lull while these developments start because it appears that little is happening. In the context of other cities these figures are not too bad.”

“Consumer shopping habits have changed too. We’ve got more out-of-town retailers and online shopping, which will have an impact on the city centre.

“And the economic situation is going to have an impact, perhaps leading to a loss of confidence and consumers conserving their money.

“There’s a lot of competition out there too – people travel to places like Solihull or Leamington to shop.

“Much of Coventry city centre was built decades ago and some of these units are very different to what modern retailers want.

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