The towns and cities with the lowest percentage of essential stores that remained open after the lockdown were largely in the tourist and coastal locations, particularly in southern England. The map below highlights the eighteen markets where the penetration of essential retail after 23 March was less than 20%. Of these Torquay, Falmouth, Brixham, Littlehampton, Faversham, Whitby, Formby and Llandudno are all retail centres located on the coast.

Conversely Luton, Coventry, Barnsley, West Bromwich, Doncaster, Wolverhampton, Rotherham, Ilford, Peterborough and Croydon are the 10 largest markets where a third or more of their provision was classed as essential immediately after the government sanctions. This is largely because these towns/cities have a higher density of convenience retail accounting for more than 10% of all retail units and between a third and two-fifths of what was left open in their respective markets.

_{Read the articles within Spotlight: The initial impact of Covid-19 on the retail and leisure market below.}