Centre for Retail Research
This coverage examines the Centre for Retail Research’s (CRR) independent analysis of the UK retail sector. Reporting highlights CRR’s forecasts on store closures and job losses, including the projected 17,349 shop closures and over 200,000 job losses in 2025. It also covers CRR’s insights into online retail trends, consumer behaviour shifts, and the impact of economic policies on retail operations. These insights are tailored for retail executives, strategists, and professionals seeking data-driven perspectives on retail performance and structural change.
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Aug- 2025 -13 AugustComment
It’s time we had a system that stopped taxing retailers as if it were 1599
Our high streets have had a tough time in recent years – battered by a global pandemic, war, energy shocks and soaring inflation. Yet despite it all, shops have kept going – serving their communities, creating jobs, and showing remarkable resilience. But resilience isn’t a plan for growth, and nostalgia…
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Jan- 2025 -15 JanuaryAnalysis
Is New Look right to close up shops?
The tax increases unveiled in the October 2024 budget have further complicated the outlook for retailers in the new year. One such high street retailer, New Look, which has managed to narrow its pre-tax loss to £21.7m in the year to March 2024, now faces the difficult task of balancing…
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2 January
Today’s news in brief-2/1/25
Lidl reported its best-ever Christmas performance, with turnover surpassing £1bn for the first time, a 7% increase over the four weeks to December 24, 2024. The retailer attracted over 2m additional customers, with December 23 marking its busiest day. Key contributors included the expansion of its British supply base by…
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2 JanuaryEconomy
Retail lost close to 13,500 stores in 2024, study finds
Nearly 13,500 shops shut for good in 2024, according to data from the Centre for Retail Research. This is a 28.4% increase on the 10,494 which closed in the calendar year of 2023. More than half of all stores closed, 7,537 in total, were closed through retailers undergoing some form…
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Jan- 2024 -8 JanuaryNews
Today’s news in brief-8/1/24
The UK retail sector faced challenges as almost 120,000 jobs were lost and over 10,000 stores closed, according to data from the Centre for Retail Research. Despite a -38.8% decrease in store closures compared to 2022, and a -21.3% reduction in redundancies, the improvement is seen as “less bad” rather…
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8 JanuaryEconomy
120,000 retail jobs lost in 2023
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…
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Sep- 2023 -18 SeptemberNews
Today’s news in brief
Mike Ashley is reportedly in talks to sell the online clothing label Missguided to Shein, a Chinese-founded online fashion platform. If successful, this would mark Shein’s first acquisition of a British fashion brand. The deal is anticipated to cover Missguided’s brand and intellectual property, with Ashley’s company retaining its head…
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18 SeptemberHigh Street
Over 100,000 retail jobs lost since 2020 after Wilko collapse
The number of retail job losses since 2020 is set to pass 100,000 as a result of the 12,500 jobs at risk after the collapse of Wilko, according to data from the Centre for Retail Research. The latest data shows that there have been more than 17,000 jobs lost at…
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Feb- 2023 -20 FebruaryNews
Nearly 15,000 retail jobs lost in 2023
Nearly 15,000 retail jobs have been lost since the start of the year, according to new data from the Centre for Retail Research. It found that 14,874 jobs have been lost as a result of either administration or cost cutting because of the cost of living crisis. Over 11,000 jobs…
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Jun- 2022 -13 JuneEconomy
Almost 650,000 UK retail jobs lost since 2017
Almost 650,000 jobs have been lost in the UK’s retail sector over the past five years, according to new figures from a study conducted by the Centre for Retail Research. The study found that 645,204 retail jobs have been lost and 72,570 shops were closed across the whole country in…
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