Vacant shops in Ipswich town centre spike to almost 100 as footfall plummets

Vacant shops in a town centre have spiked to almost 100 as footfall has plummeted.

Ipswich’s leader, Cllr Neil McDonald, will present a report to members of the strategic overview and scrutiny committee on Thursday highlighting the council’s performance against some of its targets.

The report shows a spike in the number of vacant shop units in the town centre from 63 in the last quarter of the 2022/23 financial year, to 92 at the end of 2023/24.

Addressing this, it states: “The high number of vacant units on the high street is a trend common across the UK – a change in buying habits, the impact of the pandemic and macro-economic issues mean that town centres need to move away from a reliance on retail and diversify the mix of uses on the high street.

“The council, through the Towns Fund and by working with partners is working to bring more leisure, cultural, learning and residential uses to the town centre, which will reduce the number of vacant units.”

A similar amount of shops opened across both periods, at 39 each financial year.

The result of the empty properties was a £55,517 loss in business rates in 2023/24, almost £15,000 more than the previous financial year, although the report states the target would be met if it wasn’t for the old crown court building, in Civic Drive, and St Peters House, in Grimwade Street, which make up the majority of the losses.

In the meantime, despite 128 eating, drinking, and eating places being sustained or increased in 2023/24, footfall plummeted by nearly 30 per cent, with 679,077 visitors recorded over the year, down from 949,995 the year before.

A range of other performance indicators are also being weighed against the council’s goals, including the number of out-of-work benefits claimants which the council met with 4,060 against a target of 4,100, despite an increase in objective from last year.

The authority also met its goal for the number of young people aged 16 to 24 who were supported into education, training, and employment, with 72 against a target of 60 — last year, the number of young people supported was 165 against a target of 150.

The council has also seen an increase in the average weekly wage, with workers now receiving £642, from £593.30 in 2022/23, to £642 in the last financial year.