New figures show that High Street shop closures surged in 2024, with more than 13,000 brick-and-mortar stores shutting across the country. Rates of closures have accelerated from the previous year, jumping up by more than a quarter.
Last year’s data from the Centre for Retail Research paints a grim picture for the traditional High Street, and it predicts that more will shut this year as national insurance contribution increases and higher wages announced in the last Budget take their toll. Empty shop units are a big issue in almost every town and city around the UK.
More than 11,300 independent stores shut during the year, a 45.5 per cent jump against the previous year, reports the Mirror. Meanwhile, 2,138 stores were shut by larger chains over the year. More than half of closures were said to be down to insolvency – being unable to pay their debts.
The closures have had a big impact on the job market, with an estimated 170,000 workers losing their jobs last year as a result. In 2024, 38 major retailers, including Lloyds Pharmacy, Homebase, The Body Shop, Carpetright, and Ted Baker, collapsed into administration, accounting for 33 per cent, or 55,914, of all retail job losses.
Have your say! Does the traditional High Street have a future? How would you change your local shopping areas to make sure they are still around in ten years? Comment below, and join in on the conversation.
Many factors have been blamed for the decline of the High Street – customer habits shifting from visiting brick-and-mortar retailers to shopping with online giants is regularly cited. Costs are also ballooning, with unit rent, business rates, energy costs and inflation all cutting into the bottom line.
Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the Centre for Retail Research, said: “Whilst the results for 2024 show that although the outcomes for store closures overall were not as poor as in either 2020 or 2022, they are still disconcerting, with worse set to come in 2025.”
Store closures are forecast to rise to about 17,350 during 2025, with around 14,660 coming from independent retailers. Small retailers will also face a significant impact from changes to the current discount to business rates for firms in the sector.
Have your say! Does the traditional High Street have a future? How would you change your local shopping areas to make sure they are still around in ten years? Comment below, and join in on the conversation.