The pace of retail store closures across the UK has plummeted to the lowest level for five years, according to new figures from PwC.
Stores are still closing on the high street as shopping habits change but in the first six months of the year, they closed at the rate of 14 a day – the lowest figure since 2010 – according to data compiled for PwC by the Local Data Company. The rate of closure peaked at 20 stores a day in the first six months of 2012.
However, the PwC study published on Thursday shows there was a net reduction (openings minus closures) of 437 shops during the first half of this year, which represents an increase when compared with the same period in 2014, which showed a net reduction of 406 shops.
Coffee shops, charity shops, takeaways, jewellers, healthfood shops and computer games outlets all did well in terms of new shops opening, the statistics show.
Mark Hudson, retail partner at PwC, said that new businesses occupying the high street were more likely to be leisure or services based. He said that healthfood shops were thriving whereas payday lending, for example, was suffering.
Matthew Hopkinson, director of the Local Data Company, said: “As ever, the devil is in the detail. We are seeing the continuing decline of pubs and clothing shops whilst seeing previously expansive sectors such as banks, betting shops and cheque cashing all in retreat from the high street.”
Hudson said: “Online sales growth is slowing and consumer spending is increasing so the dramatic impact on store numbers of the double whammy of channel shift and fewer store visits is abating for now and we are returning to a more natural level of churn.
“What’s clear though is that a tidal wave of change is still washing through the high street and that consumer shopping behaviour means we’re not going back to the traditional high streets of the past.”
