Oxford city centre has the third lowest vacancy rate of the UK’s major high streets, new data has revealed.
The Centre for Cities report, Checking out: The varying performance of high streets across the country, compares the retail performance of UK’s 63 largest cities and towns.
It draws on millions of anonymised card transactions and new estimates of local retail vacancy rates.
The report found that Oxford city centre had an estimated high street vacancy rate of 9% – just behind Cambridge (8.5%) and London (7.4%).
By comparison, the worst performing cities and towns were Newport (19%), Bradford (18%) and Blackpool (17.6%).
The Centre for Cities report was released last week.
Oxford city centre
Oxford had the third best-performing high street while still having a relatively high number of shops for the population.
Oxford has 1.7 shops per 1,000 people in the catchment area – more than Cambridge (1.6) and more than double London (0.8).
The number of shops in Oxford is the same as Bradford, where the vacancy rate is 18%.
Oxford also stood out in the data as having a relatively small catchment area – compared to London or Liverpool – while still having a low vacancy rate.
Centre for Cities said this was likely to be the result of the size of Oxford's visitor economy.
Centre for Cities report
The report found that the three key reasons for high vacancy rates were:
- Low local spending power
- Too much retail space
- Retail spending leakage to bigger cities
It said that successful city centres had “risen to the challenge of out-of-town shopping and online retail by pivoting from retail towards food”.
Centre for Cities made a series of recommendations, including that the Government allocates more funding to remake city centres with more office space, improved public realm and fewer shops, and that cities increase the size of the catchment by building more homes in inner-city locations.
For more information, visit the Centre for Cities website.
Oxford City Council
Oxford City Council has taken a proactive approach to city centre management, guided by the City Centre Action Plan adopted in 2022. The plan focuses on strengthening the city centre’s resilience by diversifying how spaces are used and supporting a vibrant, sustainable mix of retail, social, and cultural activity.
This includes pedestrian-friendly improvements to Market Street and St Michael’s Street, and nearly £8 million of investment to future-proof the Covered Market and support independent businesses.
To reinvigorate the look of vacant units, the Council has also worked with landlords, agents and community groups to activate shopfronts. This not only keeps the streets looking good, but it also helps to promote the work of local organisations.
Reaction
“Oxford is fortunate to have a strong local economy and a beautiful city centre that people from all over the world want to visit.
“But Oxford City Council also made deliberate choices that have helped boost the city centre. We chose to put Oxford’s largest shopping centre in Oxford city centre, rather than on the edge of the city, and our housing company, OX Place, is building new homes at high density to help increase the number of people who live in the city centre, as well as encouraging the building of hotels to encourage visitors to our city to stay overnight and spend more money in our local economy. We have also worked hard as a landlord and with other landlords to support independent businesses, such as through our wonderful Covered Market.
“We continue to see investment in our City Centre, from the rebuilding of the Clarendon Centre to the redevelopment by All Souls College of the shops at the top of the High Street by the Covered Market entrances. The City Centre constantly changes to reflect national trends away from retail and toward hospitality and experience, but we are also keen to preserve traditional retail and independents alongside.
“We cannot rest on our laurels, but I am really pleased to see Oxford recognised as one of the best performing city centres in the UK.”
Councillor Susan Brown, Leader of Oxford City Council
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