Foreign brands taking over the high street

But as the recovery gets under way and empty shops find new tenants the names over the doors are changing. Several foreign retailers have plans to set up shop in the UK this year, attracted by the scale of the market – retail sales hit £286bn last year – and a national obsession with shopping.

After falling through much of 2009, retail spending started to recover at the turn of the year and with so many shops empty, landlords are offering prospective tenants the best deals in years. Among the big names coming this way are American retailers Victoria’s Secret and Forever 21 as well as a raft of new European brands including Cortefiel – the Spanish Next.