There’s great news for shoppers in Abingdon – the number of empty shops in the town has halved over the past year. The Vale of White Horse District Council’s annual retail vacancy survey has revealed that only 4.4 per cent of Abingdon’s shops are empty in 2015 compared with 8.8 per cent for the same period last year. 

The overall number of empty shops in the Vale has remained at five per cent for the third consecutive year, which is significantly lower than the national average of 12.9 per cent.

The number of empty shops in Wantage, which was recently voted High Street of the Year, has stayed more or less the same at less than four per cent,  the number of empty shops in Faringdon has also stayed significantly lower than the national average.

All three towns bring in a mix of independent and national retailers, and all still have higher levels of independent and ‘destination’ retailers, which help bring people in from further afield.

Cllr Matthew Barber, cabinet member for Economic Development and Leader of the Vale Council, said: “This is excellent news for Abingdon in particular, and good news for all of our residents across the district – we’ve been working hard to promote all of our towns as a thriving place for local entrepreneurs to set up shop, as well as getting national companies to come along to help provide a great mix of choice on the high street for our residents.

"We’ve been working really closely with the town councils and local chambers of commerce and everybody can be proud of this success.”

Read the report here