Comment: What Can Be Done About Guildford’s Biggest Empty Shop?

Published on: 20 Jun, 2025
Updated on: 3 Jul, 2025

The sad-looking former premises of House of Fraser in Guildford High Street

By Martin Giles

Empty shops on any High Street create an impression of decline and the continued closure of what was the pre-eminent department store in Guildford, House of Fraser, is certainly troubling.

Guildford High Street remains a desirable and profitable location for many retailers so why is the store remaining vacant?

There are several factors:

Changing High Streets Guildford is not alone in having an empty department store on its High Street. The rise of online shopping continues to have a massive impact, which was accelerated by the pandemic. This is no one’s fault. Online shopping can be very convenient for shoppers and profitable for online traders, who don’t have to pay high rents and other overheads associated with retail premises.

It is often assumed that the number of empty shops in Guildford town centre is increasing inexorably but Experience Guildford reports that, in fact, the count for the quarter to April was seven per cent, nearly half the figure of 13 per cent that were empty in April 2024 and well below the current South East regional figure of 11.3 per cent and national figure of 14 per cent.

High Rents Guildford High Street might be a desirable location for retailers but rents are commensurately high – with landlords, often large property portfolio holders (such as Canada Life in the case of the House of Fraser premises) determined to resist market pressures to reduce rents, said to be some of the highest outside London. Owners are said to do this in order to maintain the overall value of their investment portfolio, even though, while empty, they are responsible for paying business rates and have to bear the loss of rental income.

Business Rates Retailers often complain that business rates, a tax on commercial premises collected by local authorities but paid to central government, are too high. Complaints most frequently come from smaller businesses but they will be a factor for any trader assessing the viability of a new venture.

Business rates are based on a property’s rateable value, currently, according to gov.uk, “an estimate of [a property’s] open market rental value on 1 April 2021” and are calculated using a multiplier which for 2024-2025 is 54.6p for every pound of rateable value, so an overhead of about another 50 per cent of the rent being charged.

Fit out Another factor would be the significant fit-out costs. For a unit the size of the House of Fraser premises, this could easily amount to double-digit millions.

Architecture Originally, Guildford High Street was made up of properties with shops at ground level, living accommodation above and gardens reaching back to “Lower Back Side”, which we now know as North Street. Incremental changes led to expansion of some shops to the rooms above and from the early 20th century the amalgamation of premises to create bigger shops. A few expanded to have frontages on both the High Street and North Street, such as Harveys (a precursor to the House of Fraser), the original Robert Dyas premises and Marks & Spencer.

Although there have been recent relaxations of “change of use” restrictions, retail premises such as the former House of Fraser are not easily converted to living accommodation on the upper floors, as might be seen as the best answer where demand for retail space is declining and there is increasing need to meet housing targets.

The main problem is providing natural light to any living accommodation on upper floors. Natural light requires windows and these are only possible on the street-facing elevations. Changing the building so significantly, by, for instance, adding an atrium, could make any conversion project unviable.

And unlike the former Debenhams store, demolition is not a realistic option. Guildford High Street is a well-loved conservation area and the Jeffrey Jellicoe garden on the roof of the House of Fraser store is on English Heritage’s Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.

Council control There have been many comments critical of the council for not doing more. A common view is that the borough council, as the planning authority and business rates collector, with a responsibility for facilitating the commercial health of the borough, should do something to get Guildford’s largest store reopened.

But the council does not own the premises and it cannot force owners Canada Life to lower the rent. The Dragon understands that in the unsuccessful negotiations between Canada Life and prospective tenant Fenwick, there was a large gap between what Fenwick was prepared to pay in rent and what Canada Life was prepared to accept.

See: Fenwick Reported to Have Pulled Out of Negotiation To Take Over House of Fraser Store

Recently it was announced that the up-market London grocer and restaurant Fortnum & Mason, holder of warrants from King Charles and Queen Camilla, announced it was looking to open new branches outside London. Perhaps someone at GBC should suggest they take a look at the former House of Fraser premises. With many affluent residents in Guildford and the surrounding villages, up-market shops seem to do well. Look at the success The Ivy restaurant has been.

And given the nationwide nature of the problem of empty shops blighting High Streets, perhaps the Government could help persuade landlords to reduce rents by imposing swingeing penalty taxes on owners of shop premises left vacant for more than, say, six months and level the playing field somehow between high street and online businesses.