A pedestrianised high street featuring Poundland, Ann Summers and 24-hour McDonald’s restaurant has been named the best in Britain.
Queen Street in Cardiff city centre scored top out of 25 locations across the country, and was commended for its ‘choice and variety of retail’ compared with its rivals.
But despite having some of the most famous shopping districts in the world, London did not have a single location inside the top ten.
Matt Piner, head of retail consulting at experts GlobalData, who compiled the study with American Express, said: ‘With consumer expectations and shopping habits evolving at pace, high streets are having to continuously adapt to stay relevant.
‘The locations getting it right benefit from higher footfall and spend. In fact, our analysis shows millions of pounds of additional consumer spending could be unlocked for a typical high street that delivers on the factors shoppers care most about.’
From Exeter to Edinburgh, the top ten high streets in Britain, according to the study
Queen Street in Cardiff city centre came out on top of a survey to identify the best high street in Britain
Judges said it was ranked number one for choice and variety of retail from all of the high streets included in the research
It features a 24-hour McDonald’s restaurant, along with several other places for people to grab a bite to eat
And it also features a number of services, such as bank branches
Its proximity to a number of historical landmarks, such as Cardiff Castle, was also cited in the study
Queen Street topped the charts ahead of high streets in Gloucester, Chester, Winchester and Exeter.
The top ten was completed by locations in Edinburgh, Worcester, Liverpool, Glasgow and Manchester.
Queen Street is a 500 metre stretch of businesses, restaurants and services running through the heart of Cardiff city centre.
Famous names based there include beauty behemoth Superdrug, low-cost fashion brand Primark, discount retailer Sports Direct, and chicken giant KFC.
A handful of big-name banks also continue to have branches open.
Although a car-free zone, shoppers are able to park at a number of locations nearby, including an NCP which costs between £3.95 for an hour, and £18.95 for a full 24-hour period.
The main shopping centre in Gloucester was praised for its ‘thriving independent retail scene’
The city centre ranked second overall in the survey
Gloucester city centre, pictured here 20 years ago,was praised for its accessibility
It is a short distance from some of the city’s most significant landmarks – its castle, and the Principality Stadium – and is a ten-minute walk from the main Cardiff Central train station.
The study surveyed 2,000 consumers across Britain to pinpoint what they believe makes for a great high street, which was then combined with in-depth analysis to identify the locations with the winning formula.
Factors such as an attractive mix of retailers topped shoppers’ wish list (67 per cent), with good parking a close second (62 per cent). Shoppers also prize independent pubs and restaurants, with over half (52 per cent) saying these make a high street ‘great’.
The magnetism of locations with ample entertainment and leisure options such as cinemas and theatres, was highlighted by over a third (36 per cent). Proximity to a train station and green spaces were deemed as less important by shoppers.
The research also revealed that almost three quarters (73 per cent) of shoppers believe their local high street will remain important to their everyday lives in 10 years’ time.
Historic Chester, with its famous city gate, was commended for its ‘overall aesthetic appeal’
The city is well known for its Tudor lined streets and characterful buildings
Value stores and independent stores were cited as the most important reason to visit the high street by locals
A longlist of 25 locations was compiled by dividing the UK into 11 regions and GlobalData’s team of retail consultants conducting an analysis of the leading high streets in each area.
High streets considered eligible were those in a city with a definable, primary out-of-doors shopping street, to ensure fair comparisons could be made.
Factors considered included presence of both leading and independent retailers, variety of businesses and proximity of car parks and public transport.
For the high streets on this longlist, more extensive desk-based research was then carried out, allowing them to be ranked into an order and providing a ‘top 10’ for the final phase of research.
For these 10 locations, on-site visits were conducted by GlobalData’s consultants to rate them across a broader range of factors, which included aesthetic appeal, vacancy rates and accessibility.
Winchester high street was praised for its ‘quaint feel and proximity to green spaces’
Winchester high street was identified as ‘the high street with the lowest vacancy rate’
Exeter high street was valued ‘for its buzz and strong mix of cafes, food outlets and popular retailers’
Exeter high street was identified as ‘the high street with the second lowest vacancy rate’, after Winchester
Ratings across all metrics were then weighted for importance by mapping them to 15 key ‘pull factors’ identified in the consumer survey, providing each location a final score and position in the top 10.
Cardiff’s Queen Street was commended for its proximity to ‘attractive historical landmarks’, its ‘great variety of retailers’, and was deemed the best in Britain for transport links and accessibility.
The central shopping streets of Gloucester came second, with Northgate, Southgate, Eastgate and Westgate rated highly ‘for its thriving independent retail scene’ and leisure options.
Eastgate Street in Chester completed the top three, and was praised for its ‘overall aesthetic appeal, with Tudor-lined streets and characterful buildings’.
The high streets in Winchester and Exeter, were noted for their ‘quaint feel’ and ‘buzz’, and came in fourth and fifth, respectively.
EDINBURGH: Shoppers like its proximity to historical landmarks and the variety of retailers
WORCESTER: High Street was identified as providing good retailer variety, despite being the shortest shopping street of those studied
LIVERPOOL: Church Street offered lots of ‘large format stories that provide more immersive brand experiences’
GLASGOW: Buchanan Street has a variety of premium retailers
MANCHESTER: Market Street completes the top ten, with its pedestrianised shopping district
The famous King’s Road in London is the capital’s best-ranked high street, at 16th in the overall list for Britain
Princes Street in Edinburgh came sixth, ahead of High Street in Worcester, Church Street in Liverpool, Glasgow’s Buchanan Street, and Manchester’s Market Street.
It meant there was no space in the top ten for London, despite an influx of new high-end and established brands such as HMV, Pandora, Miniso, and Kurt Geiger filling empty shops along Oxford Street.
London’s top-scoring street was the famous King’s Road, which ranked 16th in the list.
Dan Edelman, general manager of UK merchant services at American Express, said: ‘Each of the top locations identified by our research offer exceptional retail experiences blended with choices to socialise and relax.
‘Consumers continue to value our high streets and believe they will remain important well into the future.
‘While there is no one solution to guarantee ongoing success, it’s encouraging to see there are plenty of opportunities for collaboration to help deliver this winning formula.’
