Shop vacancy rates fall in UK but regions vary wildly
North-west bears brunt of empty shops with vacancy rate of 17.3% compared to 12.2% average with small towns performing best
Retailers in the north and south of Britain face dramatically different conditions despite a slight fall in the proportion of empty shops across the country last year, new data released shows.
Shop vacancy rates fell below 14% for the first time since July 2010 to 13.9% in December last year, according to the latest figures from the Local Data Company (LDC). That compares to 14.6% in February 2012, suggesting that an improving economy and widespread efforts to help town centres are paying off.