Highgate is classed as one of the top town centres in England for boasting a zero per cent vacancy rate, according to statistics released by retail data organisation the Local Data Company (LDC) last week.
However, the lines of empty shops in Archway Road and the struggles of independent business owners to keep doors open paint a starkly different picture.
Raj Kara-Rajani, owner of The Corner Shop in Highgate High Street, fears he will have to close after 35 years due to a £33,000 rent hike. The increase would hit him doubly hard because it would mean he would also have to pay higher business rates.
The 64-year-old said: “I would be devastated if I had to close and in a way I wouldn’t know what to do. I would have worked for 35 years for nothing. I would lose all my personal property, the banks and the landlords would take it all. You would probably see me on the streets, that’s the worst case scenario.”
Jay Patel, co-owner of popular newsagents Northwood Dairy in Northwood Road, says that ever since a Sainsbury’s Local arrived in nearby Archway Road nearly three years ago, he has seen his profits drop by 50 per cent.
The 59-year-old, who has run the store for 30 years, is now seriously considering closing the shop which once counted comedian Les Dennis as a regular. “They said a Sainsbury’s would increase footfall,” he said. “Well it has, but only for them.”
Several independent business owners in Highgate said the high street is far from thriving, despite having no empty shops.
