We have been questioning the role of traditional bricks and mortar in relation to the rise in Internet shopping for some time, but it hasn’t felt like an existential debate. Now, I’m not so sure. Last week, a British Retail Consortium footfall survey confirmed visitor numbers to the UK’s high streets, shopping centres and retail parks are staying stubbornly 12.5% down on pre-pandemic levels. Is it time we started to think bigger?

Of course, Oxford Street is so much more than the shopping. With Mayfair and Soho to the south and Marylebone and NoHo to the north, it’s also an upscale residential and commercial office powerhouse. But if we acknowledge that those sectors in our industry are the ones facing the biggest challenges, Oxford Street and its immediate surroundings feels like it’s in the eye of the storm.

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