400 jobs lost from high street every day since Christmas

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Feb 11, 2019

Britain’s high streets have seen nearly 20,000 jobs lost or put under threat since Christmas following the collapse of several retail chains amid tough trading conditions.

According to data by real estate research company Altus, 14,377 jobs have been lost while a further 4,345 remain at risk.

This means a total of 18,722 high street jobs have been lost or put in jeopardy, further underlining the crisis facing UK retailers amid mounting costs and weakening consumer confidence.

The figure is equivalent to 400 jobs a day.

Whilst retail chains such as HMV and Patisserie Valerie have fallen under, others including Marks & Spencer have announced thousands of job losses.

“It remains tough for high street businesses right now whilst Brexit uncertainty is also hurting both manufacturers and the services industries,” Robert Hayton, head of UK business rates at Altus, told Press Association.

UK retailers are under pressure to evolve quickly to meet changing consumer behaviour whilst facing a number of challenges, such as Brexit uncertainty and business rates.

“During the last decade, revenue from business rates has risen by 32% in England, up £6.04 billion to £24.76 billion for the current year,” Hayton said.

“Next month’s Spring Statement shouldn’t just be an update on the UK’s economic outlook but a meaningful opportunity to deliver a stimulus to all sectors by freezing the planned rate rises.”

In addition to growing business rates, UK businesses will see the National Living Wage increase by 4.9% to £8.21 per hour on April 1.