A once “thriving” cathedral city in England is now so crime-ridden and full of boarded-up shops that long-term residents are desperate to leave.
Coventry in the West Midlands is now the English city with the most boarded-up shops, according to JDM Retail Consulting. The number of empty shops in the city soared from fewer than one in 10 a decade ago to almost four in 10 by 2024.
It is ranked among the top 20 most dangerous cities in the UK and crime rates for shop-lifting have soared. Residents say this has coincided with shops closing – and a visible increase in the number of rough sleepers on the streets.
Kathy Coolican, who has lived in Coventry since the 1960s, is one long-term resident who has had enough and wants to leave. She told The Telegraph she is keen to relocate to Chester, where her son now lives.
Now in her 80s, she remembers when Coventry was a “good city, a thriving city.” She said the city centre once had plenty of “lovely” shops and stores, with friendly neighbourhoods.
However, Mrs Coolican says all that is now a distant memory – and the Coventry of today is “poor and dirty”. The stores she used to love have all gone – and pound shops, card shops and charity shops are all that remain.
However, Coventry City Council – which is run by a large Labour majority – says the number of empty stores is artificially high due to a long-term redevelopment scheme. It says that 150 shops were moved from the south side of the city, to free up space for a new large housing scheme.
The council says this is part of the single biggest regeneration project in Coventry since the city was rebuilt after the war. However, Richard Moon – director of property services and development at the council – admits the city faces a battle.
Mr Moon says he can’t “tell retailers to come back” and that the council has “got to work with the best of the city centre that we’ve got”. This means shrinking the city centre and creating more homes.
Nonetheless, Coventry is at the forefront of the new Labour Government’s “five-point plan to breathe life into Britain’s high streets”. This strategy includes vows to tackle anti-social behaviour and shoplifting; the roll-out of banking hubs; replacing business rates with a new system of business property taxation and revamping empty shops, pubs and community spaces.
But business insiders say Coventry is not the only English city that is sliding into dereliction. Richard Walker, the managing director of the Iceland supermarket chain, said “the country is in crisis”.
