Based on the expectation that home and hybrid working patterns will continue into the coming months, a quarter of consumers surveyed by Barclays said the best way a retailer can attract them is by opening stores in their local area rather than in city centres, which opens good new perspectives to local high streets retailers.

"E-commerce has been the undisputed winner of the pandemic but not far behind are community high streets, as shoppers seek to 'look local' and support the stores on their doorstep", said Karen Johnson, Head of Retail and Wholesale at Barclays Corporate Banking.

A switch to more local stores result in a overturn of a trend seen in the last few years as high street shopping declined, first as preferred locations focused on big cities and then with the online’ s growth.

According to the same source, 18% of retail businesses with 10 or more employees are considering community store openings, with each of them looking at five new premises on average. In total that might result in a potential for up to 17 000 new local stores across the UK.

For this research, Barclays surveyed more than 300 senior retail managers.