Gyms, bars and bookies taking over high streets

Sarah Butler
Friday 14 February 2014
The Guardian
UK’s high streets undergoing transformation as shoppers trim their spending, buy online and look for local leisure experiences
Retail space equalling the size of the vast Westfield shopping centre in west London was converted to new uses last year, as the UK’s high streets adapted to changing habits.
Traditional shop space in excess of 1.7m sq ft was lost in 2013 – an increase of more than 60% on 2012 – as betting shops, gyms, bars and restaurants moved into vacant retail premises, according to a report for the industry journal Estates Gazette.
Betting shops were the single most prolific type of new entrant, with 106 winning permission to open last year – but gyms and health clubs took up the most space, at more than 1m sq ft.
The UK’s high streets are undergoing a rapid transformation, as shoppers trim their spending and buy more online but continue to look for local leisure services and experiences.
Change has also been driven by variations in the planning rules, which came into force in May last year and made it easier for developers to change the use of buildings.
“Betting shops have boomed during the downturn, doubling their presence on our high street over the past five years,” said Nadia Elghamry, data editor at Estates Gazette. “Across the country, councils are permitting the majority of applications from betting shops and are only turning around 10% of applications.”
The new figures show the ease with which bookies are moving into British high streets despite widespread concern, particularly about fixed-odds betting terminals, which have been dubbed “the crack cocaine of gambling”.
Labour has said it would empower local councils to ban the terminals from high streets. Government ministers are waiting for the outcome of research before considering a reduction in the maximum stake on the machines from £100, which can currently be wagered every 20 seconds.
Mike Jones, chair of the Local Government Association’s environment and housing board, said: “Councils warned last year that relaxing planning laws to make it easier for shops to change use would expose our high streets to the risk of being overrun by betting shops, and this research proves our fears are now being realised.”
He said that councils wanted to do more to prevent “clustering” of betting shops but were restricted by the planning and licensing system that gave them little power to block applications.
On a positive note, the research shows that UK high streets are finding new ways to fill space being vacated by retailers. Reports by the TV retail guru Mary Portas and former Iceland boss Bill Grimsey have suggested that planners and councils need to encourage alternative businesses to move in, or even convert shops into homes, in order to keep town centres alive.
Graham Shone, head of Estates Gazette retail research, said high streets needed to follow the trends seen in new shopping centres if they were to appeal to modern consumers.
“New retail developments are built with around 15%-20% of the space dedicated to leisure and restaurant use – three times the once traditional 5%. If town centres are going to recover, they may have to end up with the same ratio,” he said.