How the High Street can bounce back after Covid

The death of the High Street has been greatly exaggerated before, but could this really be it for our town centre shops? The ease of Amazon has made life under lockdown bearable and has tempted people away from popping to the shops. As a result, more and more shops are boarded up. Even large companies aren’t immune, as demonstrated by the collapse into administration of shopping centre giant Intu. But there might still be a way for our High Street shops to defy the odds.

When I ventured out to the shops last week for the first time since March, I was anxious: I knew it wasn’t going to be like Bournemouth beach or the streets outside Anfield but I’d no idea quite what awaited me. There was an irony to my outing: the specific product I wanted was available ‘online’ but delivery could not be guaranteed. ‘We are experiencing high levels of demand…’ and all that.