Towns in the area have been ranked among the top 100 retail centres in the country in the 2024 Newmark Vitality Rankings.

Hitchin was placed as number 63 on the list - some ten places lower than the year before.

But it is till an improvement from 2019 when it was placed 109th.

Meanwhile St Albans came in at number 20 and Harpenden reached number 23.

Newmark Vitality Rankings is an annual assessment of retail centres across the UK, using variables like average shopper spend, vacancy rates, bank branch closures and consumer affluence to determine the location's retail performance.

The town was beaten by nearby St Albans and Harpenden however.

Simon Carson, head of leisure, food & beverage at Newmark, said: "Catering and leisure activities have played a crucial role in revitalising city and town centres, offering unique experiences that draw people to local destinations. 

"These services, which cannot be replicated online, will counterbalance any reduced foot traffic caused by the rise in hybrid working."

However, he also described a rise in global brands capitalising on vacant retail units in the wake of the pandemic and cost-of-living crisis, which proved especially devastating to independent businesses like those found in Hitchin as they lack the cash reserves to weather such market shocks.

The Office of National Statistics say 4,695 shops closed in 2023, representing a net loss nationally.

Newmark's head of consultancy & analytics Andy Metherell says: "These [larger] closures can leave major gaps in retail centres, and have the biggest impact on the smaller locations where a popular brand will have occupied a relatively large and prominent unit."

However the greater number and variety of stores in larger retail centres like Kingston offer a degree of resilience to these losses.