Located in North Bristol and running through St Andrews, Bishopston and Horfield, Gloucester Road has been described as having the longest row of independent shops in Europe. Many of the shop owners have said they have noticed a decline in footfall since the cost of living crisis. But what do locals think of shopping independent?
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00:00 [Street noise]
00:04 Located in North Bristol and running through St Andrews, Bishopston and Horfield,
00:10 Gloucester Road has been described as having the longest row of independent shops in Europe.
00:16 But to what extent has the ongoing economic situation and cost of living impacted traders on Gloucester Road?
00:24 It's quite sad when I saw Morrison's took over what was, when I first came here, an independent...
00:30 And the other shops around here that are not doing so well. It's a shame.
00:37 But then we don't have much choice.
00:41 You can't get fresh meat or fish without going on a bus ride.
00:46 And in some cases, two buses.
00:49 So you just have to make do with what you can get sometimes, especially when you get a bit to my sort of age.
00:57 Many of the shop owners have said that they've noticed a decline in footfall since the cost of living crisis.
01:03 But what do locals think of shopping independently?
01:07 I do feel quite happy when I hear that there are some places where the small businesses are still thriving.
01:17 And that's good.
01:19 And in the fine weather when my feet aren't too bad, I deliberately go and shop down Gloucester Road.
01:26 But I can't do that very often.
01:30 We could do with a decent cake shop.
01:33 I know we've got Gregg's, but we need another one. A little bit of competition.
01:37 So, yeah, I think a cake shop would be good.
01:40 The cost of living crisis has massively impacted independent businesses.
01:45 But Gloucester Road is still full of local shops and a few empty units.
01:50 Let's find out if locals have a favourite independent business.
01:54 I do like the butcher in Henley's, which has changed hands and changed its name.
01:59 It's the independent shops and the choices.
02:03 And then the level of service you get.
02:05 People that own their own business are much more, I suppose, driven to be nice to people. I don't know.
02:16 Across Bristol's city centre and the 46 recognised high streets, the commercial property vacancy rate was at 9.8% from December last year.
02:27 The city centre rate fell from 17.1% to 15.1% over the same period.
02:35 In the same year, there were 22,525 business units registered in Bristol, slightly down on 22,820 the year before.
02:47 18,320, which is 81.3%, were micro businesses.
02:54 Only time will tell what the impact of the cost of living crisis is on independent businesses in the city of Bristol.