The number of empty shops in town centres is at its highest for four years, figures show.
She said:"Consumer demand is ever more polarised between convenience and experience, and the stronger performance of out-of-town destinations reflects the fact that retail parks are successfully bridging the convenience-experience gap.
"They not only offer consumers accessible shopping environments with free parking and easy click and collect opportunities for online purchases, but many also combine this with an enhanced experience that includes coffee shops and casual dining restaurants, and some also have leisure facilities."Meanwhile the British Retail Consortium said retailers face pressure from business rates and taxes and has called on the government to intervene.
Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the BRC, said:"Currently, retail accounts for 5% of the economy, yet pays 10% of all business costs and 25% of all business taxes. "The rising vacancy figures show this is simply not sustainable. We need an immediate freeze in rates, as well as fixing the transitional relief, which leads to corner shops in Redcar subsidising banks in central London."More stories
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