The ‘death of the high street’ may be overstated, with independent shops booming across the UK, says Which?

Despite a number of well known retailers disappearing from Britain’s High Streets in recent years, new research shows that they have been replaced by smaller businesses that have prospered.

The consumer champion analysed almost 1.5 million Ordnance Survey (OS) business records to compare Britain’s retail and services landscape from 2014 to 2019

The analysis suggests that concerns about the future of the high street may be overstated, and that instead, many high streets are beginning to move towards services that cannot be replicated online, with significant growth in cafés, tattoo parlours, hair and beauty services and function rooms.

Of the 10 sectors that have seen an increase in premises on UK high streets, six are categorised as ‘eating out and services’, with the biggest increase since 2014 seen in banqueting and function rooms (114 per cent).

Each year, more shops close than open in the UK and the gap is getting wider.

According to figures from PWC and the Local Data Company, 2,692 shops shut in the first half of 2018 – about 14 per day – while 1,569 opened, a net loss of 1,123.

That compared with a net loss of 222 in the same six months of 2017. Clothes shops and pubs were the biggest casualties.

In January 2008 the internet accounted for 5p in every £1 of retail sales. By August 2018, it was 18p in every pound.

In 2018, 43 retailers with multiple stores either closed or went into administration, affecting 2,594 shops and 46,000 jobs according to the Centre for Retail Research.

A further 15, with 266 stores and 2,706 employees, did so by the end of February 2019.

The popularity of online shopping has contributed to a near doubling in demand for warehouse space over the past 10 years, according to figures from property research firm CBRE.

About 235 million sq ft of warehouse space was leased or purchased between 2007 and March 2018 – equivalent to more than 3,000 Wembley Stadiums.

That figure is up from about 130 million sq ft in the previous decade.

About 60% of the space is now used by retailers, according to CBRE.

Ten years ago, retailers accounted for about a third of the space.

“Demand has been unprecedented,” said Andrew Marston, who researches UK industrial and logistics property at CBRE, which compiled the figures for the BBC.

“Growth has come from online retailers, a number of which have been rapidly expanding their distribution networks.”

Discount grocery chains such as Lidl and Aldi have also played their part, he said.

In addition, warehousing space for advanced and automated manufacturing – particularly in the automotive supply chain – has taken up space.

One region cashing in on the opportunity is the East Midlands. The arteries of major motorways and rail connections run through Northamptonshire, Leicestershire and Derbyshire. As a result, it’s rebranding itself the “Golden Triangle” of logistics.

The region has mass appeal because goods can reach 90% of the population in England and Wales within four hours.

Marks and Spencer sounded the starting pistol for the area in 2014 with its £200m fulfilment centre at Castle Donington. A little further south, Magna Park near Lutterworth is home to Disney and Asda. Tesco has a huge operation at Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal (Dirft).