High streets lost more than 13,000 stores in 2024
Over 13,000 stores on UK high streets closed their doors in 2024, according to new figures.
The Centre for Retail Research found that 13,479 stores closed their doors in 2024, an increase of more 28% compared to the previous year.
Independent shops in particular suffered, with 11,341 closing in 2024, representing an uptick of 45.5% against 2023.
The data also revealed that over half of the closed stores, 7,537 in total, were shuttered after some form of insolvency procedure undertaken by the retailer. Large chains including Carpetright and Homebase closed stores after entering insolvency in 2024.
A further 5,942 stores were found to have closed through cost-cutting programmes, with retailers including Boots and Shoe Zone reducing their exposure to high street retail in 2024.
The Centre for Retail Research also said it expects store closures to jump to around 17,350 in 2025, with around 14,660 of these coming from independent retailers.
Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the Centre for Retail Research, said: “Whilst 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.”
Despite these figures, a number of retailers have expressed a desire to expand their footprints in the near future, including Co-op, Aldi, and Sephora.