High street closures: Which major stores did we lose in 2024?

Local TV Sport

Britain's high streets endured another harsh year in 2024, with an average of 37 shops shutting down every day, according to data from the Centre for Retail Research.

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00:00Britain's high streets endured another harsh year, with an average of 37 shops shutting

00:06down every day, according to data from the Centre for Retail Research. A total of 13,479

00:13stores permanently closed last year, marking a 28% increase from 2023, though the losses

00:19were less severe than those recorded between 2019 and 2022. Big-name casualties of the

00:24year included Homebase, The Body Shop, Lloyd's Pharmacy, Carpetright and Ted Baker, leaving

00:29gaps in shopping centres and high streets across the country. Professor Joshua Bamfield,

00:34the Research Director at the Centre for Retail Research, described the findings as alarming.

00:39His group anticipates store closures to rise to 17,350 this year, with nearly 15,000 of

00:46those closures coming from independent retailers. Adding to the burden, retailers are bracing

00:51for an increase in business rates. A planned reduction in the business rates discount from

00:5675% to 40%, announced in the autumn budget, will see average rates bills jump. What do

01:01you think needs to be done to help our high streets?

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