UK's most upmarket high streets revealed

A survey of 1,000 shopping areas has revealed Cambridge as the best UK high street and Newcastle's Byker Shields Road as the worst.

Cambridge has been named the UK's best high street for the second year in a row.

That's according to the Harper Dennis Hobbs (HDH) Retail Vitality survey, which measures the number of upmarket shops, discount retailers, pawnbrokers and empty shops. 

The Shields Road in Byker, Newcastle was named the worst high street by the survey.

Almost one in five (19%) shops are closed in Byker, while in Cambridge the figure is only 5.7%. More than half the shops in Byker are budget outlets compared to less than 5% in Cambridge.

The survey follows a miserable year for the high street with House of Fraser, Marks & Spencer and Debenhams closing dozens of stores as shoppers move online.

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The HDH survey isn't about shoppers' experiences per se, but instead how upmarket a high street is.

With the joint-highest unemployment rate in the country, at 5%, and wages below the national average, it's unsurprising Byker has more discount chains than expensive shops.

A spokesperson for Newcastle City Council told the Chronicle: “This is a disappointing finding for what is a well-used high street in a busy part of the city, providing vital amenities for a lot of our residents.

"We acknowledge there is room for improvement and we have already started the process of engaging with traders and key stakeholders to work together collaboratively and identify measures that could give the area a collective boost.”

Cambridge has some of the highest wages in the UK which, combined with lower rents than London, gives it a huge advantage. As the HDH survey noted, it also receives a large number of day-trippers who contribute to the local economy.

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The best and (the worst) of the rest 

London dominated the leader board with several of its high streets listed at the top of the table.

High scorers included the luxury shopping areas of Knightsbridge and King’s Road as well as the city-worker-focused Canary Wharf.

Harrogate and Sheffield shopping centre Meadowhall, were the only locations from northern England to reach the top 25.

The North West had more high streets in the bottom 25 than any other area with Stretford, Kirkby and Walton Road in Liverpool all scoring poorly.

Portslade in Brighton and military town Aldershot were the only South Eastern towns to be at the bottom end of the table.

These areas had high streets typically characterised by betting shops, discount retailers and empty units.

What makes a high street great? Give us your views in the comments below.