West Berks the only place in county to see rise in shops
Increase in retail units since 2000
WEST Berkshire is the only district in the county to have increased its number of shops since the turn of the century.
Figures released by the Value Office Agency (VOA) show that the total number of shops has risen by 10 since 2000.
In the same period, Berkshire as a whole has lost 250 stores, down from 6,110 to 5,860 – a drop of 4.1 per cent.
The worst-hit area was the Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, which has lost 120 units, a drop of 8.5 per cent.
Second-worst was Reading, where 70 stores were lost – a reduction of 4.3 per cent.
In Bracknell Forest, 40 shops have gone, but the demolition of part of the town centre for redevelopment has been held partly responsible.
Wokingham lost 30 units, a 5.3 per cent decline.
Apart from West Berkshire, the only area not to have suffered a net loss is Slough, which has stayed level.
But the VOA, which monitors the number of empty retail units in order to establish fair valuations, said that business is on the way up.
In the first six years of the century there were 360 closures, rising to 5,730 in 2008/9, during the financial crisis.
The current figure of 250 means that 110 retail units have been created in the county since the century’s low point.
Newbury Business Improvement District chief executive Laurie-Jane Cann said: “This is good news. Our success is due to a number of reasons.
“We monitor footfall every month and Newbury is doing really well. The town is very active.
“We also have a number of good-sized retail units as well as smaller ones, which mean we can attract national chains as well as smaller independent businesses.”