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Almost 120,000 retail employees lost their jobs in 2023 after more than 10,000 shops shuttered over the year, according to new data from the Centre for Retail Research.
It found that during the 2023 calendar year, a total of 119,405 jobs were lost and 10,494 stores were shuttered across the retail sector.
Despite this, the number of store closures fell by -38.8% against 2022, while the number of redundancies in 2023 was down by -21.3%. However, 2022 was retail’s worst year for store closures since 2008, the year of the financial crisis and the collapse of Woolworths.
Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the Centre for Retail Research, said: “This ‘improvement’ is probably best viewed as a trend that is ‘less bad’ rather than ‘good’ and doesn’t reflect any real strength in the sector.
“The cost-of-living crisis, inflation and increases in interest rates have led many consumers to tighten their belts, reducing retail spend. Retailers themselves have suffered increasing energy and occupancy costs, staff shortages and falling demand that have made rebuilding profits after extensive store closures during the pandemic exceptionally difficult.”
According to the Centre for Retail Research, 2023 saw a continuation of a trend where most store closures and job losses were a result of company reorganisation and cost cutting programs rather than actual business failures.
It added that the number of collapses during the year was moderated by the fact that businesses such as Debenhams, Arcadia, Jessops and M&Co all failed in previous years.
Looking ahead, large retailers are set to face the biggest tax increase in 33 years in April. According to Altus Group, those with a rateable value above £51,000 face a 6.7% rise in their business rates bills in April, costing an extra £309m in tax.
