Five shops a week are going to the wall

CLOSURES on Scottish high streets have risen to more than five a week, latest figures show.

A total of 290 high street stores shut up shop across Scotland last year, a rate of 5.5 per week.

There were 142 store openings, but the net loss of 148 is up 32 per cent from 112 in 2016 and no town has bucked the trend, research by the Local Data Company for Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) found.

The Scottish drop of 4.48 per cent is the highest in Britain, which had an average reduction of 2.57 per cent. Across the UK, the closure rate is 16 stores a day.

North of the Border, clothes shops led the closure list, with a 25.5 per cent fall, followed by travel agents at 17.2 per cent,

‘Little sign of letting up’

banks and financial institutions at 14.4 per cent and shoe shops on 8.5 per cent.

Food outlets had the highest increases in store numbers with Chinese takeaways rising by 50 per cent, cafes and tearooms by 28.6 per cent and restaurants and bars by 8 per cent.

Glasgow had the highest number of stores shutting their doors with 53 more closing than opening, followed by Edinburgh on 29 and Aberdeen on 16.

Lindsay Gardiner, regional chair for PwC in Scotland, said: ‘Last year proved to be one of the toughest trading periods Scottish retailers have experienced in years.

‘So far this year, there has been little sign of this pressure letting up with the Beast from the East and ongoing cold snaps taking their toll alongside other adverse business factors.’

She said online trading continues to be a ‘significant factor’ in the changes.