Why Cardiff's Queen Street 'best high street' gong has left some scratching their heads

Cardiff's Queen Street has claimed the top spot in a list of the best high streets in the UK, but not everyone is convinced.

American Express measured things like the variety of shops, availability of parking, and how close the nearest train station was.

But some in the Welsh capital were surprised by the accolade, believing the nearby St Mary Street or The Hayes in the capital to offer a better high street experience.

One of those laughing is Kane, a sales assistant in the Cardiff branch of small London chain Rokit Vintage.

He chuckles when it's suggested Queen Street is the best in the UK, adding: "I mean, yeah, it's nice". Laughing again, he said: "It's quite surprising that it's the best in the UK."

The location, he says, is key (and this is something American Express used to judge it). "We get a lot of international students and people visiting from other countries or other cities.

"On a nice day you’ve got Bute Park, the castle… Cardiff has more of a town vibe than a city which helps people feel that everything is quite close.

"When there are bands on, people come in looking for specific T-shirts. When Taylor Swift was on it was rammed, there were so many people coming to Cardiff."

But it's easy to understand his surprise at AmEx's choice of #1. Many other members of the top ten - high streets in Gloucester, Winchester, Exeter and Edinburgh among them - are considerably prettier than Queen Street.

The historic dock feeder canal was reopened in 2023, a flagship Sports Direct store finally launched after months behind advertising hoardings.

But at the same time, Wilko closed its doors and still sits empty, business owners frequently deal with break-ins and anti-social behaviour.

But life isn't easy for small shops and restaurants.

"People would rather put their trust in a brand with a big name," says a worker in one of Queen Street's independents.

"People are comfortable going there and scared to go somewhere more family-run - but also once they do go somewhere like that and have a good experience they'll stay."

Mother and son Olly and Tracy are visiting from Bath.

Tracy says: "We’re here for my son’s birthday and are really impressed with the shopping centre.

"We didn’t realise how much there is in Cardiff and I think we’d actually choose to come back on a big shopping trip again. Where we come from near Bath a lot of our shops have shut down so it’s nice to get here and actually see it’s quite vibrant."

Son Olly adds: "We’ve been to London plenty of times for Selfridges and that, and honestly it’s a nice shopping experience but this particularly has got everything you’d want, and at good prices. It’s amazing, it looks nice and it’s got all the shops you could need."

Geraint, owner of Queen Street Vapes in the Capitol shopping centre, says: "If my partner and I are coming to Cardiff, 10 years ago we would get off at Queen Street and make our way down.

"Now we would get off at Central and work our way up. There’s nothing up here."

Geraint has had some seriously bad luck. He's had four break-ins since he opened in February, with an attempted fifth recently.

"Business when it’s running is decent, with a great customer base," he says. "But the issues up here are just appalling. During the day you’ve got city wardens and police with a lot of presence around which is really good. At 4pm, 5pm it’s a totally different area. It’s quite rough, people are scared to walk past and my members of staff won’t walk up that way."

In one break-in, he says, around £26,000 worth of stock was taken. This arguably reflects a wider issue - vapes are a controlled substance so a potential thief knows they can sell them off cheaper than the shops can - but Geraint has some specific Queen Street gripes.

"In my opinion they’re spending money in the wrong areas of town. They’re doing up the canal but they need to put the money into the overall street presence like city wardens."

A council spokesperson added: "The council has a team of five wardens who are there to help visitors with any queries. They also patrol the streets of the city centre working with South Wales Police and other partners dealing with antisocial behaviour.

"Funded through the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund, the team report any criminal activity they see to the police and they also work with the council’s homelessness Outreach Team, ensuring rough sleepers are offered help and advice on how they can come in off the street, should they want to.

"They also stop and advise people cycling in areas where it is not permitted that they are breaking the law and that they need to dismount."

Geraint adds: "It’s the lack of respect that even the citizens have… if I’m walking down the high street and saw [another shop] got broken into, the first thing I’d do is call 999… there’s no common courtesy or common sense even with the citizens down this end of town."

Ruba, the manager of the Cardiff branch of Flamingos Vintage (a small chain with shops in Swansea, Bristol, Exeter and Reading), says: "Being in the Capitol centre it’s literally like a ghost town. There’s not much open here. Tesco and Cafe Nero are busy and have their own customers but they’re front facing so no-one really comes in here.

"I don’t think Queen Street generally gets enough footfall. A lot of people are just passing by to grab some lunch but the majority of the time they’re walking through to St Mary Street or the area by the castle where there are restaurants, bars, St David’s 2.

"Our customers are different ages but mostly younger and students. A lot of the time they don’t want to come all the way here when they’re doing the vintage shop round because it’s a bit long. There’s a scooter shop, a hair place, Atma Lounge, a gym, some art spaces - for us if our customers are coming here there isn’t much else they can do, so it kind of deters them."

Another worker, Morgan, a part-time barista in 200 Degrees Coffee on Queen Street, says: "I kind of understand about the canal but I don’t really know if there was a need for it. I personally think it’s a bit of an eyesore. I don’t think it adds that much character to the street. I like that they’ve put public seating there but during Covid they closed it off and had picnic benches there."

Morgan is one of several people who feel the end of the road near Queen Street station isn't particularly safe. She says: "I don’t feel particularly safe. In the days I don’t mind it, in the evenings… there are a couple of infamous people who are quite verbally aggressive."She says homelessness is not an issue in itself but she sees a lot of it, especially where people sleep rough in derelict shops with domed entrances. Noise pollution is also off-putting, she says: "As someone with ADHD it’s very hard to work with."

A council spokesperson said it is "committed to improving the street scene in the city centre to encourage investment and retail opportunities.

"Most recently, we uncovered the Dock Feeder on Churchill Way, creating new, green, public space, with rain gardens, and outdoor seating for the public to enjoy."The wider masterplan for the Canal Quarter, which includes extending the canal further down to the south on Tyndall Street aims to create a new, vibrant district in the east of the city, interlinking Bridge Street, David Street, Charles Street, Tredegar Street, Guildford Crescent and Barrack Lane to develop a high-density, mixed-use development, attracting homes, hotels, hospitality, high-quality offices, leisure and retail units.

"This will significantly improve this part of the city centre which in turn will benefit Queen Street."

A council spokesperson added: "The number of people sleeping rough in the city fluctuates on a daily basis.

"At the latest count, there were 47 individuals outside, compared to 31 during the same period last year. Our outreach team works with people sleeping rough daily, checking on their welfare and signposting available support.

"The council is experiencing immense pressures on its homelessness and housing services with unprecedented numbers of people seeking our help.

"Rough sleeping, while it can be the most obvious manifestation of homelessness, represents only a very small proportion of the numbers of people we are helping who are currently experiencing homelessness.

"Often rough sleepers choose not to accept offers of support. But we work every day on the street to try to convince them to come in."Temporary accommodation in the city is full, and to be able to support the large numbers of people experiencing homelessness, the council has the exclusive use of a number of hotels to provide single people and families with a place to stay, while we work with them to find a more permanent solution."Unfortunately, because of the shortage of affordable housing, households are spending longer periods in emergency and temporary accommodation, as a move to a permanent home depends on properties becoming available.

"To increase the supply of affordable accommodation quickly and tackle the very high demand we’re seeing, we have recently purchased two large commercial properties for conversion to residential units, and a vacant plot of land to develop more modular homes. These plans will rapidly create 250 more homes, while in the longer term, our housing development programme will deliver 4,000 new homes, including 2,700 new council homes."

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