From department stores to discount shops, bookmakers to beauty salons, the makeup of Britain’s high streets has shifted dramatically since 2019. Shopping-led town centres are giving way to areas increasingly dominated by services, food, and leisure – but the scale and shape of that change varies widely from place to place.

The last six years have coincided with a series of shocks to the economy. Lockdowns during the Covid pandemic disrupted footfall and accelerated online retail, while Brexit, energy bill hikes, a cost of living crisis and national changes to wages and employer tax contributions have piled further pressure on both independent businesses and national chains. What remains on Britain’s high streets – and what has disappeared – offers a snapshot of how the country shops, eats and spends its time.

Enter your postcode to explore the types of high street businesses that were operating near you in 2019 and how that picture compares with 2025. Unfortunately, our data does not cover Northern Ireland.

About the data

The Guardian took high street boundaries from Retail Centre Boundaries and Open Indicators data published by the Geographic Data Service.

The number and type of businesses on each high street in 2019 and 2025 were taken from the PointX dataset published by Landmark Information Group and distributed by Ordnance Survey. This data unfortunately does not cover Northern Ireland, meaning the tool won’t work for postcodes there.

Vacancy rates were estimated by comparing the number of businesses in Point X with the maximum number of businesses recorded over the years 2016 to 2025. The vape shop category was generated by the Guardian based on the names of businesses – meaning some vape shops that aren’t a major chain or contain vape-related keywords in their name – and shops that sell other things besides vapes – might fall under the food, drink and multi item retail category instead.