"A strong and active high street" - study finds Portsmouth is bucking the trend with one of the healthiest high streets in the UK
With high streets across the country struggling with dwindling footfall, a new study has found that Portsmouth is bucking the trend.
The study by Excite OOH has listed Portsmouth as having the fifth healthiest high street in the UK, behind Plymouth, York, Edinburgh and Dundee. The ranking was based on factors such as business opening, closures, vacancy rates, weekend and night-time activity and retail jobs per 100,000 resident.
Portsmouth was listed as having a “strong and active high street” with a “healthy balance” between shop openings and closings.
The study found: “The city experiences moderate business turnover, with 12.9 per cent of shops opening (16th) and 10.5 per cent closing (27th), showing a healthy balance between new arrivals and existing businesses staying put.
“Its vacancy rate of 11.7 per cent (20th) indicates that most retail units are occupied. Footfall is steady at weekends (16th, 134), suggesting the high street remains popular with shoppers, while night-time activity is a particular strength (4th, 117).”
Portsmouth was ranked above Liverpool, Manchester, Bournemouth, Cambridge and Newcastle which made up the top 10.