Fewer closures, more openings for high street retail

There were more high street retail businesses opening and fewer closing in the first half of 2017, according to a report from the Local Data Company.

The data, which studied the top 500 British town centres, found that 2,564 stores closed in the first six months of the year whereas 2,342 were opened.

In total, there were 222 fewer shops on the British high street, putting it at its lowest level since 2010.

Barbers, beauty salons, cafes, convenience stores and tobacconists were the most popular new openings this year. The kinds of stores which saw the highest number of closures were pubs, women’s clothing stores, newsagents, bookmakers and shoe shops.

Mike Jervis, insolvency partner and retail specialist at PwC, said: “The relatively low level of net closures in the first half of the year reflects a more stable environment, with consumer confidence proving more resilient as the year unfolded.”