SWINDON’S shop owners struggled through the pandemic more than most other towns and cities in the region - and many retail units have remained empty.

New research shows town centre stores lost the equivalent of 28 weeks in sales during the last two years, with only Exeter (35) and Bristol (39) being hit harder by Covid in the south west.

The council hopes £100m of investment will help the area bounce back quickly.

Traders talked about how tough it’s been for them, especially when the Omicron variant arrived just before Christmas, which is usually their busiest time of year.

Indy’s Vegan Kitchen in The Crossing food hub closed in August. Owner Victoria Capener said at the time “It will come as no surprise to anyone that the past year has been a tough one for many small businesses, myself included.

“I remained optimistic that things would improve, but unfortunately customer numbers are still down, prices of stock have increased and stock is harder to get hold of due to supply chain issues. So I feel now it’s the right time for me to bow out.

“I’m not getting rid of my equipment so who knows, maybe I’ll pop up again somewhere.”

Hot Box set up in the vacant stall in mid-November then saw the shopping centre empty of customers almost immediately.

Manager Shyamli Gumber said: “After Boris Johnson made the announcement about Omicron, we saw a big dip. No-one was here for at least a week.

“It hit everyone but it was harder for us because we had only just started. Big shops like House of Fraser and Sainsbury’s have closed so people shop online more and think there’s no reason to come into town. But we’re on Just Eat and Deliveroo so we managed, and it’s started picking up again here now.”

Around a fifth of retail units in the area were empty by June, according to the report.

This has been an issue for shoppers since long before the pandemic came to the UK but the health crisis certainly did not help matters,

Key cornerstone Debenhams was one of its first big business casualties in April 2020 and Sainsbury’s site in the Brunel Shopping Centre stopped trading a few months later.

But new additions have popped up since last summer. Pizza chain Dough and Co, the Boom Battle Bar, and Korean restaurant Funky Grilla moved into Regent Circus, Taco Bell filled the Game unit, and a community centre now uses the old River Island store on Canal Walk.

A couple of big brands left the area as 2021 drew to a close, but smaller indie businesses arrived not long afterwards.

The flagship House of Fraser site closed suddenly last November, and clothes shop Yours announced before Christmas that it would not be open in 2022.

Days later, Polish supermarket Miesko held its grand opening on Regent Street, and earlier this month the team at Gandaki Grocery Store welcomed their first customers to Sanford Street.

Plus, there are plans for a new street market with a rotating array of stalls to be set up in Wharf Green once the final details of the funding bid are approved.

Centre for Cities’ economic assessment of the UK’s largest urban areas showed that Swindon bore the economic brunt of the pandemic but is in a good position to bounce back quickly once restrictions ease and workers return to offices.

The national research and policy institute said 28 weeks of lost sales for shops is the average figure across the UK and is in line with the number of weeks non-essential businesses had to shut.

Chief executive Andrew Carter, said: “It has not been an easy two years for businesses in Swindon but the strong local economy means they should be able to expect consumer spending and footfall to pick up again as we hopefully exit the pandemic this year.”