The death of the high street

A record number of high-street shops are being left empty in Britain. Does this mean the British town centre is doomed? Matthew Partridge investigates.

What's the issue?

Technically, Britain may have pulled out of recession in the last quarter, but things remain grim on the high street. The insolvent electrical retailer Comet will close 125 stores in the next few weeks, with stocks run down in the remaining ones. In doing so it will add to a trend towards vacant shops in town centres.

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Dr Matthew Partridge
Shares editor, MoneyWeek

Matthew graduated from the University of Durham in 2004; he then gained an MSc, followed by a PhD at the London School of Economics.

He has previously written for a wide range of publications, including the Guardian and the Economist, and also helped to run a newsletter on terrorism. He has spent time at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and the consultancy Lombard Street Research.

Matthew is the author of Superinvestors: Lessons from the greatest investors in history, published by Harriman House, which has been translated into several languages. His second book, Investing Explained: The Accessible Guide to Building an Investment Portfolio, is published by Kogan Page.

As senior writer, he writes the shares and politics & economics pages, as well as weekly Blowing It and Great Frauds in History columns He also writes a fortnightly reviews page and trading tips, as well as regular cover stories and multi-page investment focus features.

Follow Matthew on Twitter: @DrMatthewPartri