According to the LDC , the national picture looks pretty bleak. Nottingham has a vacancy rate above 30%, Walsall is pushing for second place at 29.6% and Stockport comes in at 28.4% [see earlier story ]

With stats like these, those town centres will be fighting an even steeper uphill battle to attract inward investment. It’s the sort of PR no-one wants.

The latest Brighton city centre retail vacancy survey conducted last week has unveiled a very different story. Back in February of this year, the city centre showed a vacancy rate of 6.03%, move forward six months, and it’s dropped to 4.93%.

What’s more, it’s the fourth consecutive fall since March 2010 and it doesn't include a number of properties that were quite clealry in the process of being fitted out for opening but were not trading at the time of the survey.

The city’s Business Improvement District [BID] area has also shown a drop in figures, falling from 7.34% in February 2012 to 6.03% in September.

For a full breakdown of the results, plus analysis in to the current retail spread for Brighton’s BID area and city centre click on the link below.

Click here to download the September 2012 City Centre Health Check