The UK’s struggling excessive road has shed practically 170,000 retail jobs this yr—the largest annual toll since pandemic lockdowns in 2020—as outlets grapple with increased taxes, surging prices and weakening client spending.
Figures from Altus Group and the Centre for Retail Analysis (CRR) reveal a 42 per cent leap in job losses in contrast with 2023, bringing the overall to 169,395 thus far this yr.
Excessive-profile administrations at The Physique Store, Ted Baker, Homebase, Carpetright and Lloyds Pharmacy underscore the mounting pressures on retailers. In line with CRR director Joshua Bamfield, authorities warning across the financial system has additional dented client confidence, compelling households to tighten their budgets.
Retailers are bracing for a troublesome 2025, with greater than 200,000 further roles anticipated to go. Two looming coverage measures—a lower in enterprise fee reduction and a pointy rise in employers’ Nationwide Insurance coverage contributions (NICs)—threaten to hit the trade with a double blow within the spring.
Altus Group calculates that retailers’ annual enterprise charges will rise by £688 million when the present 75 per cent low cost falls to 40 per cent, whereas Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s plan to boost employer NICs from 13.8 per cent to fifteen per cent, and decrease the edge to £5,000, provides additional pressure. Bamfield warns that part-time staff, making up half of the retail workforce, will bear a lot of the influence.
Newest knowledge from the Workplace for Nationwide Statistics reveals 3.6 million folks at present employed in retail, wholesale and motor repairs—down from greater than 4 million in 2019. November’s retail gross sales volumes stay 1.6 per cent beneath pre-pandemic ranges, and Boxing Day footfall slipped by practically 5 per cent towards the identical day final yr, in keeping with MRI Software program.
The Treasury has defended its strategy, highlighting that 40 per cent enterprise charges reduction for 250,000 properties will stay in place, and a everlasting, decrease fee is ready to launch in 2026. It additionally notes that over half of employers will see no change or a discount of their NICs invoice.