We looked at 70 towns and cities across the UK with the largest core retail boundaries. Each location was scored according to the number of ‘healthy’ and ‘unhealthy’ businesses in the main shopping areas.

The table is listed from the least healthy to the most healthy.

League place Town/City                   Score  
1 Grimsby  -0.32
2 Walsall  -0.21
3 Blackpool  -0.15
4 Stoke-on-Trent  -0.13
5 Sunderland  -0.12
6 Northampton   -0.11
7 Bolton  -0.10
8 Wolverhampton  -0.08
9 Huddersfield  -0.08
10 Bradford  -0.07
11 Stockport  -0.07
12 Coventry  -0.06
13 Dundee  -0.04
14 Doncaster  -0.04
15 Preston  -0.04
16 Darlington  -0.02
17 Swansea  -0.02
18 Middlesbrough  -0.01
19 Ayr  0.00
20 Luton  0.01
21 Leicester  0.01
22 Derby  0.02
23 Scarborough  0.02
24 Southampton  0.04
25 Colchester  0.04
26 Southport  0.05
27 Lincoln  0.05
28 Ipswich  0.07
29 Sheffield  0.08
30 Guildford  0.10
31 Cardiff  0.10
32 Peterborough  0.10
33 Worcester  0.11
34 Plymouth  0.11
35 Nottingham  0.11
36 Worthing  0.12
37 Manchester  0.12
38 Bedford  0.12
39 Glasgow  0.13
40 Reading  0.13
41 Norwich  0.14
42 Leeds  0.14
43 Newcastle Upon Tyne  0.14
44 Chester  0.15
45 Bournemouth  0.15
46 Hereford  0.15
47 Birmingham  0.16
48 Aberdeen  0.16
49 Perth  0.16
50 Chelmsford  0.17
51 Wakefield  0.17
52 Carlisle  0.17
53 Maidstone  0.19
54 Tunbridge Wells  0.20
55 Harrogate  0.20
56 Salisbury  0.21
57 Liverpool  0.21
58 Leamington Spa  0.22
59 Bristol   0.22
60 Bath  0.23
61 Cambridge  0.23
62 Exeter  0.23
63 Eastbourne  0.23
64 Brighton and Hove  0.24
65 York  0.25
66 Cheltenham  0.28
67 Shrewsbury  0.28
68 Taunton  0.29
69 Canterbury  0.34
70 Edinburgh  0.34