The past decade has seen plenty of changes around Britain, with few areas of the country being changed more than the Great British high street.
Once the heartbeat of towns and local communities, the high street has changed radically in the past 10 years and much that is different has become worse.
Shops are shut, retailers have closed their doors and many high streets are looking depressingly homogeneous with the same roster of pawn shops and bookies lining the roads.
Just how bad has the decade been for the high street and can it be saved?
The Claim
If you want to know how bad things have been for the high street this decade then you need only look at the almost 300,000 jobs lost from it in that span of time.
Think of all the shops that have had to shut or downsize for hundreds of thousands of jobs to be lost, so many stores whether independent or part of a larger chain have closed down and not all of them have been replaced.
The number of empty shops on the high street are at record levels, with 10.3 per cent of all shops vacant. Walking down a formerly prosperous and bustling high street can be a more miserable experience with the empty stores becoming more noticeable.
If the 2010s were bad for the high street then 2019 caps off an utterly miserable decade with 140,000 jobs lost and outlets closing as even the big retailers have retreated to cut costs.
This year saw an average of 61 high street shops close every single day, with 16,073 shutting their doors for good in the span of 2019. It would appear as though the erosion of the high street as an institution is quickening. What can be done to save it?
The Counter Claim
Firstly, Which? claims reports of the death of the British high street have been greatly exaggerated.
Their studies suggest independent stores are in the early stages of a comeback and the usual ways of measuring success are no longer so accurate as the purpose of the high street has changed.
The high street cannot compete with the internet in terms of discounts and offers, but it can offer services people can't get online and some high streets are resurgent after changing to become based around services rather than retail.
Food and drink outlets such as cafes have seen a significant rise over the last few years, while hairdressers and barber shops have also relocated to the high street.
The government is also hoping to save the high street by investing £1 billion into over a hundred towns. Communities secretary Robert Jenrick claimed that the government was "levelling up towns" and would save the high street that way.
The Facts
Professor Joshua Bamfield of the Centre for Retail Research warned that 2020 was projected to be even worse for the high street, with store closures rising to 17,565 over the next year, a nine per cent increase on 2019.
He explains that higher labour costs, business rates, high rental costs and a drop in demand will continue to sap revenues from high street businesses and lead the lowest performing to shut down.
The retail sector employs around three million people across the UK and is the largest private sector employer. The decline of retail comes at a time when there is record levels of employment across the country as the employment opportunities on offer to Brits has changed radically over the past decade.
The number of shoppers on the British high street has dropped by 10 per cent over the past seven years as more people turn towards internet shopping and the big events like the Boxing Day sales retailers rely on keep returning underwhelming results.
As the high street has declined over the past decade it has meant some very recognisable brands have closed their doors for good.
