Research from accountancy firm PwC suggests pharmacies, pubs and banks made up half of the closures on Britain’s high streets in the first six months of this year. The data found on average 18 chemists, 16 pubs and nine banks shut down every week between January and June.

Convenience stores were the best performing category as supermarkets like Morrisons and Asda opened new outlets.

Reporting on the report, the BBC said it’s also been a tough first year for takeaways and restaurants. After a year of growth, these categories were hit by dozens of closures as the hospitality sector grapples with higher costs and weaker demand.

The one bright spot was retail parks where chains opened more space for the second year in a row with new drive-throughs in big demand.

“The challenge for High Streets is that things like banks, pubs and chemists give people a reason to visit on a regular basis," said Kien Tan, senior retail adviser at PwC.

“But there’s also been a long-term shift in doing many things online, so there’s less need for physical locations. And when we do go out, we want to go maybe to somewhere more convenient like a retail park, where we can drive and do all our shopping in one go," he added.

The data covers businesses with more than five outlets and includes everything from retail and hospitality to gyms, banks and hairdressers. It does not include independent traders.

Although more than 4,600 outlets opened, up from the same period a year ago, it wasn’t enough to make up for the number of businesses that shut.

This means more than 2,000 fewer outlets - a slightly bigger decline than the previous year.

“We’ve been measuring this for over a decade now and every year there have been more outlets closing than opening and it predominantly affects High Streets. So the reality is that we’re going to have to start thinking of different ways of using and transforming them," said Mr Tan.

Source: BBC