From vape outlets to expensive parking: What do YOU need to see much less of on Britain’s ailing excessive streets?

Britain’s high streets have changed radically over the last couple of decades, and not always for the better. 

As online retailers eroded shop footfall and business rates for physical shops rose sharply, several big-name brand shops disappeared. 

Toys R Us, Borders, Staples, Tie Rack and BHS all shut up shop years ago as it became unviable to trade. More recently, the likes of Bodyshop, River Island and Poundland have seen large-scale shop closures.  

Fed-up British shoppers and independent retailers have now revealed what they want to see less and more of on Britain’s high streets.  

In a survey of more than 2,000 shoppers, 68 per cent said they wanted to see fewer vape shops, which have flooded shopping districts. 

The scale of the scourge of vape shops has become all too apparent. In Cheetham Hill in Manchester, 54 vape shops line just two streets.

According to the Voices of Retail report by Faire and Spring & Autumn Fair, Britons’ second biggest gripe with high streets is shuttered, empty and boarded up shops, with 66 per cent stating they want to see less of them. 

Gaudy gambling arcades came in as the third least popular sites with shoppers, with 52 per cent of people and independent shop owners surveyed claiming they wanted to see fewer of them on high streets. 

A hefty proportion of respondents said they also wanted to see fewer bookies, payday loan shops, tanning salons, mobile phone repair and accessory shops.

To a lesser extent, takeaway food shops, charity shops and chain coffee shops were also viewed with a degree of disdain. 

Shopper Imogen Corker, 28, who works in hospitality, said there should be more support businesses, as in Australia where she’s from. 

Ms Corker said: ‘Back home people are embarrassed to walk around with a Pret coffee, they don’t want to be seen to be supporting big corporate companies. 

‘If the attitude towards corporate companies changed in the UK to the same then there would be even more independent businesses. 

‘Independent businesses need to be given more grants, more tax breaks to be able to help them get off their feet in the first few years of being open.’

One type of shop omitted from the research was what have been dubbed ‘Turkish-style’ barber shops.    

In 2025, hundreds of barbers were raided in an operation led by the National Crime Agency, leading to dozens of arrests for money laundering and drug dealing to modern slavery. 

Independent retailers are the most desirable

The research also highlighted what shoppers want to see more of. 

A bakery (70 per cent), free parking (69 per cent), and an independent coffee shop (59 per cent) topped the public vote, according to the analysis. 

Others that were high on the wish list of shoppers were a bank, a cash point, independent restaurants and bars, hairdressers, chemist and quirky gift shops. 

Britons are also keen to have supermarkets and butchers shops in their tow centre. Of all the big brands on the high-streets, 40 per cent of shoppers said they would go to their local high-street more if it had a Marks & Spencer, while 39 per cent said they wanted a Boots shop. 

Paul Grout, 65, owner of MEAT N16, a butcher who started his store in Stoke Newington 15-years-ago, said: ‘It’s about being able to get a quality service that you just don’t get in big corporations. You get the professional knowledge and get to know your customers. 

‘Free parking definitely is a big driver, and when Mr and Mrs Jones can’t just drive up the street and pick up their Sunday roast then it stops them from coming to small businesses.’

Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed said they wanted to see more free parking available on and around local high streets. 

In Queenborough on the Isle of Sheppy in Kent, the local council has recently introduced car parking charges at previously free sites, prompting uproar among residents and business owners. 

Another business owner said they had altered opening hours due to local parking restrictions.  

Diane Yartlett, Owner of Nova Fortuny in Teddington, said: ‘We open at 11am because parking isn’t good, you can’t park before 10.30am, which is ridiculous. I’ve had customers say it’s hard to park. People want to come, go for lunch, look in shops, but it’s not easy.’