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Nearly 650 retail stores and restaurants have shut or are at risk of closure since the start of 2018.
According to analysis by BBC 5 live’s Wake Up to Money Maplin and Toys R Us sites accounted for half of the total closures, as both chains fell into administration on the same day in February.
All UK Toys R US stores are poised to shut down after administrators failed to find a buyer, resulting in a store closure programme and a possible 3,000 job losses.
Carpetright and New Look have also announced store closures, and Marks and Spencer is in the middle of a closure plan that will shut six of its stores by the end of April.
Bryan Roberts, a retail analyst at TCC Global, said some retail failures had “been self-inflicted, as firms failed to adapt to changing consumer behaviour”.
He added: “There are lots of nimble retailers out there. There’ve also been cost pressures like the minimum wage, and business rates – particularly those on the high street.”
