A new report by the Centre for Retail Research has found that almost 120,000 retail employees lost their jobs throughout 2023 amid the closure of over 10,000 shops.
The organisation noted that the sector was faced with the biggest tax increase in 33 years in April of 2023, one of the causes behind the slew of closures throughout the year.
While the figures appeared to be a continuation of a string of poor years for the UK’s retail sector, the number of store closures was actually down from 2022 by 38.8 percent, while the numbers of redundancies also dropped by 21.3 percent.
In a release, Joshua Bamfield, director of the Centre for Retail Research, said that “this ‘improvement’ is probably best viewed as a trend that is ‘less bad’ rather than ‘good’ and doesn’t reflect any real strength in the sector”.
Bamfield added: “The cost-of-living crisis, inflation and increases in interest rates have led many consumers to tighten their belts, reducing retail spend.
“Retailers themselves have suffered increasing energy and occupancy costs, staff shortages and falling demand that have made rebuilding profits after extensive store closures during the pandemic exceptionally difficult.”
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* Administrations, liquidations and debt: UK fashion financial woes of 2023
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