The high street was already in desperate need of reinvention before Covid hit UK shores. But after the toughest year in retail’s history, when non-essential stores have been forced to shutter for much of the year and footfall has been weak when shops were reopened, it’s time to take drastic action before it’s too late.

Retail experts are not shirking the challenges the high street faces. Susanne Given, a non-executive chair of businesses including Morrisons, Made.com and Hush, is frank: “The high street is going to have to shrink quite dramatically.”