190,000 jobs in retail cut in pandemic
ALMOST 190,000 jobs have been lost in the retail bloodbath since shops were first forced to shut their doors a year ago, according to new figures.
The Centre for Retail Research has revealed that 188,685 retail jobs have vanished between the start of the first lockdown on March 23 last year and March 31 this year.
The figures come less than two weeks before non-essential shops reopen their doors to customers in England after the lengthy third lockdown.
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The figures revealed that 83,725 jobs lost in the period were due to administrations, including major collapses by Debenhams and Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia Group.
Meanwhile, around 11,986 jobs were cut during Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) restructuring processes.
Another 92,974 jobs were axed through rationalisation programmes, which included supermarkets Sainsbury’s and Asda cutting thousands of roles.
The devastating impact of the pandemic resulted in 15,153 store closures across the UK, the figures also revealed.
Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said high streets will ‘absolutely’ feature shops in future, but said the government needs to act to bring down the burden of business rates.
A Government spokeswoman said: “We have continued to support the retail sector throughout the pandemic, including our new £5bn Restart Grant scheme, extending the furlough scheme and the VAT cut, providing 750,000 businesses in retail and other sectors with business rates relief and a £350bn package to support jobs and livelihoods.”