More shops closed in 2022 than in the previous five years, according to the Centre for Retail Research.
“2022 was a brutal year for the retail sector with around 47 shops, every single day, pulling their shutters for the final time,” the group said.
Provisional figures show that 17,145 shops across the UK closed permanently, the highest number in the last five years.
That is a 50% increase on the 11,449 that closed in the previous year.
The CRR said 5,509 shops closed due to retailers undergoing some form of insolvency proceedings.
But a further 11,636 shops were closed through “rationalisation” as part of cost-cutting programmes by large retailers, or independents winding down their businesses.
Closures by large retailers fell by 56%, but only because “most of the poor retail performers had already collapsed in recent years”. The failures of M&Co, Joules, McColls, Sofa Workshop and TM Lewin in 2022 accounted for the bulk of these closures.
CRR director Joshua Bamfield said: “Rather than company failure, rationalisation now seems to be the main driver for closures as retailers continue to reduce their cost base at pace.”
He said he expected this trend to continue in 2023, but added that “a few big hitters may well fail too.”
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