High streets in crisis as 5,000 shops shut

FIVE thousand shops have shut due to the coronavirus lockdowns, research has found.

Almost one in five stores closed in the hardest hit shopping centres and in parts of the country including the North East and Wales.

The national vacancy rate is now 14 per cent – one in seven – the British Retail Consortium warned. Chief executive Helen Dickinson said: ‘The forced closure of shops during the first quarter of 2021 has exacerbated already difficult conditions for the retail industry. Many stores may never reopen.’

She said the situation could worsen as protections including business rates relief and a moratorium on aggressive debt recovery by landlords are due to end this summer.

Lucy Stainton of the Local Data Company, which compiled the figures, said further closures are expected. ‘We have not yet seen the true impact of this third lockdown,’ she said.