READING is one of the top places in the UK for thrift shopping, new research shows.
Figures released by money-saving and fundraising website Savoo show that Reading is among the top 10 in the UK for thrifty buying.
The research looked at a number of metrics like the number of charity shops available to customers, access to antiques and charity fairs, and the amount of search traffic for terms like “car boot sale.”
While Nottingham came out top for the number of charity shops with more than 300, Cambridge topped the list for number of residents using relevant online search terms.
Reading placed sixth on the list thanks to 111 charity shops tallied in the research, alongside 19 antique fairs and 12 car boot sales.
Figures showed that the volume of relevant searches was at more than 420 per 100,000 people per month.
This means that Reading has more than 7.1 charity shops per square mile.
It also means that the town is the second best for total number of antique fairs, beaten only by Slough, and seventh for car boot sales.
It beat nearby Slough, in seventh place, Blackpool in eighth, Birkenhead in ninth, and Bournemouth in 10th.
Oxford ranked second, Nottingham third, Derby fourth, and Norwich fifth.
Edinburgh showed the highest demand for thrift shopping with more than 8,000 relevant searches per 100,000 people per month.
Newport ranked the worst of all, with figures citing no car boot sales or antique fairs in the area.
The research by Savoo analysed 50 towns and cities across the UK by judging the interest in and provision for thrift shopping in each location.
It cited a continued rise in popularity of charity shops in particular, with customers increasingly looking to minimise the effects of the cost of living by economising on purchases.
Savoo is an online fundraising and money-saving service which collates discount codes and deals from thousands of retailers in the UK.
Their free vouchers include exclusive deals, and also raise money for charities such as Marie Curie during their annual Christmas campaign.
