A leading expert on the state of our town's high street has spoken out amid cries that Reading's shopping quarter is dying. 

Many people who have lived in the town for years have expressed that the centre has changed for the worse. 

Reading has seen plenty of stores come and go, especially the decline of big retailers like House of Fraser, Britsh Home Stores, and Debenhams. 

This has led to a general belief that Reading should be tied into the 'death of the high street' saga that many towns are plagued by, but the Director at Hicks Baker Fiona Brownfoot fervently disagrees. 

In an exclusive interview with The Chronicle, Ms Brownfoot expressed that Reading's high street is nowhere near dying, but evolving with the times. 

"Calling it the death of the highstreet does not do anyone any good," Ms Brownfoot said. "And for the most part, it is not true.

"It is negative and isn't helpful vocabulary, I would prefer that it is not used in interest to the sector. The high street has changed and evolved."

She went on to say that town centres have had to change with the times just like the retail industry. 

People's consumer habits are very different from what they were previously, so consumerism within the town centre has, of course, had to change. 

"In many instances, it is repurposing. Space that used to be retail is now health, education, or leisure. It has just changed and evolved rather than died," she continued. 

"If one was to generalise, over the last few years the public has been looking for more experiences rather than stuff."

Ms Brownfoot said that at Hicks Baker, who are a firm of retail letting agents and commercial property consultants, the evolution of the high street has been an education for landlords. 

A lot of retail space that may once have been used as clothes shops or the like will now be going to leisure. 

"Our job has been to assist the landlords in perhaps seeing a different way forward as times change," Ms Brownfoot continued. 

"In the long term, it is better to have the space occupied by a tenant even if they are paying slightly lower rent rather than holding out for retail."

She went on to say that they must teach their clients how the landscape of the high street is changing so they can adapt accordingly.