Scotland sees largest number of store closures across Britain
Reading time: 4 minutes
The closures in Scotland’s retail units is considerably slowing down - but the country still recorded the largest number of net closures across GB in H1 2017, according to PwC research compiled by the Local Data Company (LDC).
The analysis tracked 67,521 outlets operated by multiple retailers in 500 town centres across Great Britain. In the first six months of 2017, 2,342 shops opened on Great Britain’s high streets, retail parks and shopping centres alongside 2,564 closures, equivalent to 14 closures per day.
In Scotland, 90 units opened and 132 closed during H1 2017, compared to 116 openings and 203 closures in H1 2016.
East Midlands and Yorkshire in the Humber were the only regions to see a net increase in chains of +8 and +12 respectively.
Openings and closures of multiple retailers by region across the top 500 GB town centres in H1 2017
In Scotland, Glasgow and Edinburgh took the brunt of the closures, but there were less closures than over the same time period last year (Glasgow: 50 closures in H1 2016, 44 closures in H1 2017; Edinburgh: 82 closures compared to 37 this year.). Further positive news came from Paisley, Dundee and Falkirk all being positive numbers with net growth, whereas last year only Falkirk saw growth.
Mark Addley, head of restructuring for PwC in Scotland, said: “What we are seeing here is the continuation of a trend from the last few years - that of stores consolidating their high street offerings, going from two or three shops in a location to just one larger presence.
“While Scotland is showing the largest number of net closures, the number is considerably down on previous years (203 closures in H1 2016), suggesting that the retail chains are through the worst of the pain. Having said that, online shopping is here to stay and that will continue to eat away at the high street’s profits and presence.
“Businesses need to remain cautious. It’s too early to see if there is a growth trend developing and while some may think there are small signs for optimism we remain in a world of Brexit and interest rates starting to rise.”
Scottish cities comparison Jan 2017 - July 2017
For Glasgow, Kenny Wilson, office senior partner for PwC in Glasgow, said: “Glasgow is far from being abandoned by shoppers or retailers - if you walk down Buchanan Street or Sauchiehall Street, it’s clear to see that Glaswegians and Scots are still hitting the shops.
For Dundee and Perth, Susie Simpson, partner and business lead for PwC in Dundee, said: “Dundee has had a fantastic start to the year with six new units, perhaps buoyed up by the regeneration of certain key areas including the Dundee waterfront where the passing shopper could not fail to be impressed by the speed of growth in the V&A building and train station development.
“It is the optimism sparked by these types of wider developments which can cement the demand for bricks and mortar retail outlets in addition to the move to digital offerings.”
For Edinburgh and Leith, Mark Hoskyns-Abrahall, office senior partner for PwC in Edinburgh, said: “While the top line figures for Edinburgh may give cause for concern, there are two things to note: one, the city is still in the midst of transforming its retail offering and two, less units are closing when you compare to the same time period last year when 46 units closed, suggesting the city is - slowly - coming through the worst of retailers carrying out store consolidations.
Share this article:
Subscribe to our newsletter to not miss articles like this one:
SUBSCRIBE
