100,000 SHOP JOBS LOST
Plea to save our towns as fifth of stores set to axe more staff
SOME 100,000 shop jobs have been lost in three years, analysis by Labour reveals.
And nearly a fifth of shops plan to cut more staff in the next three months, research by the British Retail Consortium shows.
High Street favourites closing stores this year include House of Fraser, Marks & Spencer, Mothercare and New Look.
Labour’s Shadow Business Secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey said: “Our High Streets are dying.
“The Tories need to take action fast before we become a nation of ghost towns.
“Our communities, hundreds of thousands of jobs and our economy, local and national, depend on thriving High Streets.”
She called on the Government to reform business rates.
She also wants a register of landlords of empty shops in each local authority. And she wants an inquiry into excessive parking charges by private firms.
Labour will also examine the benefits of free parking.
Research shows nine in 10 Brits would visit High Streets more often if there was free parking. In a poll, a third said expensive parking and lack of free parking were their biggest High Street frustrations.
A report by accountants PwC and the Local Data Company found that last year 4,000 High Street shops opened and 5,800 closed, a net loss of 1,800.
Eleven per cent of shops are now empty. The Local Data Company found that 52 per cent of old BHS stores lie empty, two years after the final closure.