The high street is dead, long live the high street
We need to call time on the polarising debate between online and offline retail
14 January 2021 • 6:00am
The past year has been beset with chaos and confusion. That also applies to many headlines. Over the last 12 months, we’ve seen everything from the wild to the wonderful. And this week again people are predicting the “death of the high street”.
Let’s start with the indisputable. It’s obvious that many high street institutions have suffered. Footfall across retail has fallen off a cliff, down almost two-thirds, year-on-year, according to this week’s data from Springboard. And this will no doubt worsen as the UK endures its third national lockdown.