Number of empty commercial properties in Norwich ‘is below UK average’

Posted 23/07/2009

Norwich city centre has a below-average number of vacant commercial properties, according to a council official.

Stefan Gurney, city centre partnership manager at Norwich City Council, stated that the area is weathering the recession much better than other parts of the UK.

Speaking to the Norwich Evening News, he said this is partly because it regularly attracts visitors from many different places, including Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire and Suffolk.

“Norwich is very much alive and kicking,” Gurney commented.

“It’s not just shopping – we have heritage and tourism as well.”

Mr Gurney added that Norwich has a diverse range of retail outlets, including six department stores and smaller independent shops.

This, he said, is one reason why the city has been able to “buck the national trend”.

The comments follow a study by the British Retail Consortium, which found that 12 per cent of town centre shops in the UK are now unoccupied – three times more than the amount recorded last autumn.