Number of empty shops hits new high in Norwich city centre

A council officer said the loss of large chains like Debenhams had been "one of the most noticeable changes"

The number of empty shops in Norwich city centre has almost tripled during the pandemic, according to a report.

Unused retail floor space hit a new high of 14.5% this year, compared to 5.5% in October 2019, the council's sustainable development panel was told.

The report cites the loss of big names like Debenhams - as well the effect of the pandemic on footfall.

However, council officer Joy Brown described the city centre as "robust and still thriving".

Vacant retail units have almost tripled in number, although trade remains robust, the council said

Ms Brown said the past 18 months had been extremely challenging, with the Covid-19 pandemic accelerating existing issues and the loss of Debenhams and Topshop which had "occupied large and prominent locations", the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

"One of the most noticeable changes is that we have seen a large number of the chains lost from the city centre," she said.

"However, on a more positive note, independents have fared much better and have appeared to be a lot more resilient."

• 'Customers will go elsewhere and won't come back'

• What the collapse of Debenhams means for us

• Almost 50 shops a day disappear from High Streets

Ms Brown stressed Norwich was not "out of the woods" in terms of the pandemic and the impact of lost government support for businesses remained to be seen.

Unused retail floor space in Norwich hit a new high of 14.5% this year

She said the city centre needed to offer a variety of other activities where people "might do a bit of shopping as well".

Panel chairman, Labour's Mike Stonard, said the report was "nowhere near as bad as I feared it might be".

"But, we should never be complacent and must work hard to protect the city centre," he said.

Councillors agreed that monitoring of the retail sector should be carried out more regularly so they can see the impact of Covid.

The council has also written to the secretary of state for permission to remove "permitted development rights" which allow offices to be automatically converted into homes.