Rate of store closure in 2024 increased by 28% from 2023. Credit: William Barton/Shutterstock.

The UK retail sector faced a challenging year in 2024 with approximately 37 shops closing each day, according to provisional figures from the Centre for Retail Research (CRR).  

During the year, a total of 13,479 shops across high streets, shopping destinations and small parades shut down permanently – a substantial 28.4% rise from the 10,494 closures documented in 2023. 

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Independents, mainly one-shop retailers but including businesses with fewer than five stores, closed 11,341 stores.  

During 2023, independents accounted for 74.5% of closures, totalling 7,793 stores. 

Centre for Retail Research research director Joshua Bamfield was quoted by the Guardian: “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.”  

Insolvency proceedings were responsible for more than half of the total closures in 2024, leading to the demise of 7,537 stores.  

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Almost 6,000 outlets were shuttered as part of cost-reduction strategies implemented by both large chains and independent shops ceasing operations permanently. 

The retail sector’s challenges were exemplified by the collapse of several prominent chains during the year: Homebase, the Body Shop, Lloyds Pharmacy, Carpetright and Ted Baker. 

This alarming store closure rate follows another concerning report released earlier by the CRR, which highlighted that close to 170,000 retail jobs were lost in the UK over the same period. 

Joshua Bamfield further projected an escalation in store closures for 2025, estimating 17,350 closures with independents likely to see around 14,660 shutting down. Total retail job losses for 2025 are forecasted to be 201,953.