The High Street Isn’t Dying — It’s Evolving: What “Permanence” Really Means

Steven N. Adjei — Pharmacist, Entrepreneur & Author of Chasing Permanence
 
I’ve spent more than two decades on Britain’s High Street — behind a pharmacy counter, in business boardrooms, and mentoring small firms fighting to stay afloat. I’ve seen both heartbreak and hope: the quiet collapse of good businesses, and the quiet triumph of others that refused to die. The truth is that the High Street isn’t dying — it’s evolving.
We’re told the High Street is dying a slow and painful death. As recently as 25 October, when this article went to press, Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch pledged to “save the High Street” if her party came to power. Yet while headlines mourn another closure, Greggs quietly opened more than 150 stores in 2023.
 

 
The five High Street companies I study in my new book — Day Lewis Chemists, HMV, Timpson, Waterstones, and Richer Sounds — are all expanding and more than holding their own in tough sectors and against intense online competition...