Nearly 500 West shops lost in just six months

Nearly 500 stores disappeared from the South West in the first six months of 2021, new research shows.

The region lost 498 shops after 784 closed and only 286 opened, according to a report carried out for PWC by the Local Data Company.

Nationally, more than 8,700 chain stores disappeared from the UK’S retail locations. The fall in the South West (of -2.5 per cent) is in line with the average across Britain and similar to the same period in 2020.

Last year dozens of big high street chains went into administration, including Arcadia Group and Debenhams, and the decline has continued into this year.

Standalone stores in the West Country fared best over the first six months of the year, falling by just 1.7 per cent – only slightly above the national average of 1.6 per cent.

The high street (down 3.4 per cent) fared the worst, although at -3.2 per cent, South West shopping centres proved more resilient than all other regions.

Cities are now faring worse than commuter towns and villages for shop closures. The flight from cities following the pandemic continues to contribute to the decline in shops, according to the research.

Jason Clarke, partner at PWC in the West and Wales, said government support had “proved a lifeline” for many retailers.

“The fate of many operators has also been helped by resilience in consumer spending, including investment in the home through lockdown and using enforced lockdowns savings for ‘revenge spending’ when possible,” he said. “This has seen the South West perform in line with the British average in terms of percentage net loss of stores, but significantly outperforming the British average and all other regions in terms of the smaller loss of stores in shopping centres here.”