High Street struggles as 128 East Midlands stores disappear

The rise of on-line shopping is hitting the high street hard

High streets across the East Midlands’ ended 2017 with 128 fewer retail outlets than at the start of the year, according to new research from PwC compiled by the Local Data Company

The figure is even more stark when you consider this is twice the level 2016, when the region saw a net loss of 64 store closures – the third consecutive year of shrinking retail activity.

Chesterfield fared the worst over the period with 12 openings and 25 closures a net decline of -13 stores, Nottingham saw 34 openings and 44 closures a net decline of -10 stores. East Retford and Coalville also experienced a a net decline of -10 stores, with 4 openings for East Retford and 3 in Coalville and 14 and 13 closures respectively. However, Market Harborough saw a net growth of 5 stores from 9 openings and 4 closures.

New store openings on high streets, retail parks and shopping centres were also the lowest for three years, down from; 285 in 2015 and 289 in 2016. In 2017, 271 new shops opened, but there were 399 closures, leaving the East Midlands with 128 fewer retail outlets.

The data also show that the second half of 2017 saw substantially more closures and less openings than the first six months of the year, reflecting a tough trading environment including a slowdown in consumer spending, rising staff and business rates costs, as well as a slowdown in food and beverage growth as consumer confidence reached a four year low in December 2017 (Source: GfK).

Nationally, These findings equate to a net loss of 1,772 stores disappearing from Great Britain’s town centres in 2017.

Country/

Number of store openings

Number of store closures

2017 net change

English Region*

East Midlands

271

399

-128

East Of England

297

481

-184

Greater London

1,118

1,454

-336

North East

116

216

-100

North West

340

515

-175

Scotland

142

290

-148

South East

713

898

-185

South West

359

511

-152

Wales

104

157

-53

West Midlands

338

482

-144

Yorkshire and the Humber

285

452

-167

Total

4,083

5,855

-1772

There was, however, some growth on the high street, with beauty product stores, coffee shops, cafés & tearooms and ice cream parlours showing the highest increase in net store numbers in 2017. Booksellers and tobacconists also had a good year, with physical book shops and vaping remaining popular with consumers.

Andy Lyon, leader of PwC’s retail and consumer practice in the Midlands said: “2017 has proved to be one of the toughest trading periods East Midlands retailers have experienced in years – borne out by a 8.6% rise in store closures with high street names such as Twenty One going into liquidation and others such as Maplins and Toys R Us facing the same fate. However, the East Midlands is still one of the strongest regions after London in terms of growth.”

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