UK retail closures at lowest level since 2010, but fashion stores fare badly

By

Cajsa Lykke Carlson

Published
Mar 14, 2016

The retailer net closure rate in the UK was down 50% in 2015, new statistics from PwC and the Local Data Company show.

Overall retail closures were at their lowest level since 2010. The rate of store openings was constant at 13 per day last year, but improving consumer confidence and the economic recovery helped the rate of store closures fall from 16 closures per day in 2014 to 14 closures per day in 2015.

In total, 5,138 outlets closed in 2015 compared to 4,640 openings, equating to a net reduction of 498 shops. This is down from 2014's net reduction of 987 shops, and is the lowest closure rate in five years since the peak seen in 2012. It's also the lowest levels of High Street churn - entries and exits – since 2010, as retailers moderate their response to shifting customer shopping habits, PwC said.

PwC and The Local Data Company analyzed 66,180 outlets operated by multiple retailers in 500 town centres across Great Britain for the research.

Among the fastest-growing retailers were coffee shops, jewellers and takeaway food, but for the first since 2010, charity shops have dropped out of the fastest growing businesses - perhaps another sign of improving finances among customers. The stores that were the hardest hit in the period were cheque cashing, banks, women’s clothing shops, fashion shops, and convenience stores. Fashion shops saw a net change in units of -82 and women's clothes shops fared even worse, with a net change of -97.

Matthew Hopkinson, Director of The Local Data Company, said:
“These numbers illustrate the improvement in consumer confidence, low interest rates and low inflation that characterised 2015. They also show how high streets continue to evolve from a pure purchasing environment to one of experiences, services and above all food and beverage consumption rather than primarily goods consumption.

“Whilst stability has returned overall for the chain retailers in our high streets the fact remains that they have continued to close more shops than they open and have done so since 2011 with out of town locations being a destination of choice for many with free parking, easy access and more space to service and deliver the experiences that the modern consumer demands.

“I expect the overall trend to remain the same as banks continue to close large numbers of branches, traditional comparison goods retailers rationalise store numbers and the fact that the current exceptional growth of food and beverage outlets is unlikely to continue at the same pace in 2016.”