Rate of shop closures on the British high street at its lowest in five years
Good news for the high street. Shops are enjoying their lowest closure rate for five years, according to PwC research compiled by the Local Data Company (LDC) and released today.
In the first six months of 2015, 2,634 shops closed on the UK’s high streets, a rate of 14 stores a day, said the research.
PwC/LDC also found that the year marked the lowest levels of churn – entries and exits – on the high street since 2011 as upheaval driven by retailers reacting to shifting customer habits starts to subside.
Coffee shops, charity shops and jewellers were among those growing at the fastest rate during the first half of 2015.
Mike Jervis, insolvency partner and retail specialist at PwC, said: “The numbers don’t lie: [The first half of 2015] represents the lowest levels of churn we have seen on the high street for at least five years."
"On the positive side that means there have been fewer retail insolvencies, on the negative side that means less confidence in bricks and mortar from the multiple chains," he added.
"The closures are caused by sector-specific factors: regulation is hurting money shops, the internet is hurting traditional bricks and mortar fashion chains.”