Scottish shops closing at a rate of five each week

Scottish shops closing at a rate of five each week

A total of 290 high street stores shut up shop across Scotland in 2017 - a rate of more than five per week, according to research compiled by the Local Data Company (LDC) for PwC.

There were 142 openings, but the net loss of 148 was well up on the 112 recorded in 2016.

The net drop of almost 4.5 per cent was the highest in Britain, which saw an average fall of just under 2.6 per cent.



The data shows 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.

Throughout the UK, the number of new high street stores opening in 2017 fell to 4,083, from 4,534 in 2016.

While 5,855 outlets closed on Great Britain’s high streets in 2017, at a rate of 16 stores a day, a slight increase on the 15 stores a day closing in 2016, when 5,430 outlets closed.

It is the second consecutive year the number of closures have risen.

The findings equate to an overall net loss of 1,772 stores disappearing from Great Britain’s town centres in 2017.

Lindsay Gardiner

The analysis of the top 500 town centres in Great Britain included 67,157 outlets run by retailers with more than five outlets across the country. It found that overall volumes of activity (openings + closures) have plummeted from a record 13,109 in 2012 to 9,938 in 2017 (-24 per cent), although 2017 activity was up slightly compared to 2016 when 9,964 outlets opened or closed.

In Scotland, clothes shops led the closure list, followed by travel agents, banks and shoe shops.

Food outlets had the highest increases in net store numbers, led by Chinese takeaways and cafes and tearooms.

Lindsay Gardiner, regional chairman for PwC in Scotland, said: “2017 has proved to be one of the toughest trading periods Scottish retailers have experienced in years.

“And so far this year, there’s been little sign of this pressure letting up with the ‘Beast from the East’ and ongoing cold snaps taking their toll alongside other adverse business factors.”

Scottish Retail Consortium director David Lonsdale said the figures demonstrated “just how challenging and volatile times are just now for Scotland’s retail industry”.

He said: “Retailers are having to contend with profound changes in shopping habits, squeezed consumers and spiralling government-imposed costs.

“Responding positively to structural change requires substantial outlays on digital infrastructure, a higher-skilled workforce and revamped logistics capability.

“This is hugely challenging at a time when retailers are forking out more for public policy-induced costs such as higher business rates, the large firms’ business rates surcharge and the apprenticeship levy.”

 

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