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Government launches energy bill cut plan for small businesses

12 Apr 2023

The government has launched a new campaign aimed at helping businesses, charities and public sector organisations reduce their energy bills.
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Indie retailers should start to feel the benefit of business rates drop

12 Apr 2023

Shops, pubs and other high street businesses should be tax cuts of more than 50% after new property valuations came into effect earlier this month.
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ActSmart/IndieRetail address change

11 Apr 2023

ActSmart/IndieRetail have moved office. We’re still in the same business centre but have moved unit.
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Get behind the #ShopKind campaign and help spread the word

4 Apr 2023

With the week commencing 17 April being designated as #ShopKind Week, we are urging all our members to get involved in the campaign by sharing the materials on social media and across their... Read more…

Competition watchdog warns online retailers on pressure-selling tactics

4 Apr 2023

The UK's competition watchdog has announced a crackdown on online pressure-selling tactics that can push consumers into making hasty decisions they later regret.
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Free Easter Toolkit Download!

31 Mar 2023

Checkout Bira's FREE opening times and social media toolkit downloads for Easter!
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Jewellery sector’s Inspiring Independents Top 100 returns for 2023

30 Mar 2023

Retail Jeweller’s Inspiring Independents, the annual list of the top 100 independent jewellery and watch retailers in the UK and Ireland, is back for 2023 with voting open from everyone... Read more…

Local Bike Shop Day set for April 29th

29 Mar 2023

The ACT has announced that the annual Local Bike Shop Day https://localbikeshopday.co.uk/ will take place on Saturday 29... Read more…

Convenience stores saw record levels of theft in 2022, according to ACS report

29 Mar 2023

New figures from the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) have revealed record levels of shop theft being committed against local convenience retailers over the last year.
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Local leaders claim up to 40% of shops must be repurposed in next five years

27 Mar 2023

Up to 40% of shops will need to be reinvented into anything from go-kart tracks to food markets over the next five years or “wither on the vine” as demand for physical retail wanes,... Read more…

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Almost 50 shops in the UK closed for good every day in 2022 – 65% of them independents

Posted on in Business News, Cycles News

Almost 50 shops in the UK closed for good every day in 2022 - more than at any other time in the last five years – according to a new report from the Centre for Retail Research.

Shops closingMore than 17,000 sites - 65% of them independents - closed with the total number of closures nearly 50% higher than in 2021. Consequently, the number of retail jobs lost, in stores and online, also rose as businesses closed or sought to cut costs.

As the economy continued to reopen in 2022 post-pandemic, the retail sector faced a barrage of challenges with prices rising sharply and shoppers cutting back their spending. Costs for retailers also rose, with steep increases in energy and wage bills.

The CRR, an independent research body which provides analysis of retail sector trends, said shops were closing at a rate of 47 per day in 2022. Over the course of the year, large retail chains closed 6,055 shops while 11,090 shops were closed by independents.

However, only around a third of closures were due to insolvencies, according to the CRR.

The number of stores closing because a parent chain with more than 10 stores went under, actually fell, the CRR said. Closures in that category were 56% lower in 2022 than in 2021, but included some high-profile names, including M&Co, Joules, McColls, Sofa Workshop and TM Lewin.

Nearly a third of the closures were branches of chains which were closing some of their sites to save money and rationalise the business. Some, such as Marks and Spencer, simultaneously opened new branches in different locations.

More than a third of closures were independent shops which decided to wind up their business, also classed as rationalisation.

"Rather than company failure, rationalisation now seems to be the main driver for closures as retailers continue to reduce their cost base at pace," said CRR director Joshua Bamfield.

He expected the trend to continue in 2023, he said, although "a few big hitters may well fail too".

From April, retailers will receive temporary support from the government with business rates, the tax charged according to the value of the firm's properties. That will be in the form of a 75% discount on business rates up to a limit of £110,000 per business.

Shops standing vacant are exempt from rates altogether for three months. After that, however, they are subject to the full rate charge, and are not eligible for the 75% discount.

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