High Street vacant shop units continue to fall

For the fifth year running, the number of vacant shop units in Brighton city centre has dropped.

The total number of vacant units in the prime pitch retail area stands at 4.69%, down from 4.95% when the survey was last conducted in the spring of 2014.

The total number of vacant units in "Brilliant Brighton" area - the Business Improvement District (BID), which encompasses 517 city-centre retail and hospitality businesses - remained at their lowest level in five years at 5.01%; the national average is currently at 12.3%.

The BID area covers Western Road, Preston Street, North Street, and parts of both The Lanes and the North Laine.

Vacancy rates in the wider city centre continued to decrease, dropping from 4.98% to 4.65%, during the period from last May to this month.

The last six months saw the independent retail sector in the city centre remain at 71% of the available units - with large-scale multiples making up 29% of retailing overall.

For full details of the survey - including sector breakdown and business type ratios - visit: www.brightonbusiness.co.uk