Selly Oak ranked 978 out of 1000 British high streets and honestly who’s surprised

As uni students, we all love to bitch about the areas we're forced to lived in if we want to be close to campus – whether it be about the uncanny levels of crime, odd locals, or lack of variety on a high street full of shit fast food restaurants, it's all been said. However, it looks like us Birmingham students may actually be justified in our bitching.

Retail consultancy firm Harper Dennis Hobbs (HDH) have recently released their 2019 Retail Vitality Index, which ranks the retail health of British high streets based on criteria such as the proportion of upmarket and discount stores, vacancy rates, suitability to the customer, and the number of pawnbrokers, money lenders, and bookmakers.

It could always be worse

Our beloved Selly Oak ranked in at 978 out of the 1000 areas which were assessed. Who would have thought that endless takeaways and 2 Tescos on the same street didn't constitute as 'retail vitality'?

Areas below Selly Oak included high streets in places such as Gateshead and Stretford, with Newcastle's Byker claiming the bottom spot.

We'll always love you Dilshad

Unsurprisingly, Cambridge City Centre retained the #1 spot that it was initially rewarded with in 2017. HDH chief executive James Ebel had this to say:

"This latest piece of research from HDH shows that Cambridge City Centre continues to be the healthiest retail district in Britain.

"The city benefits from its heritage as a centre for academia, as well as its location – less than an hour from London – which draws day-trippers as well as affluent residents."

He also pointed out how well London performed, with 7 of the top 10 streets belonging to the capital.

The vegan corner

Whilst Selly Oak still has a long way to go if it ever wants to compete with areas such as Westfield and Chelsea, progress has already been made since the last Index was released in 2017. Ranking in at a diabolical 992, Selly has since risen 14 places within less than 24 months – not long now until we're in the top 10!!!