This decline has been unfolding for years as people shift to online shopping. But Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves has accelerated the process with her brutal autumn Budget, piling on billions in new taxes.
The British Retail Consortium warns that her hike in employer National Insurance contributions will cost the retail sector a staggering £2.3 billion.
This isn’t just an abstract figure—it’s a devastating blow to businesses already grappling with the fallout of the pandemic, a relentless cost-of-living crisis, and fierce competition from online giants like Amazon.
Last year, over 70 major companies, including household names penned an open letter to Reeves warning of the looming catastrophe.
Signatories included household names B&Q, Currys, Holland & Barrett, JD Sports, Marks & Spencer, Next, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Wickes.
Yet, she has ignored their urgent pleas.
On top of the NI hike, Reeves is raising the national minimum wage by 6.7% (and 16% for younger workers).
While these measures may sound progressive, they’re proving to be the death knell for high-street businesses.
They’re now dying, shop by shop, street by street.
Sainsbury’s has just announced the closure of all 61 of its remaining cafés and several fresh food counters, resulting in 3,000 job losses.
WHSmith, a British high street fixture for more than 230 years, has shuttered 18 stores this year and may sell all 500 of its remaining stores.
Flat profits and soaring costs are forcing the company to look overseas instead.
Last month, I flew into Oslo Airport to find WHSmith had two shiny new outlets within yards of each other. Yet soon, it may not have a single one in the UK. This is no longer a country to do business in.
Even pub chain JD Wetherspoon, with its uniquely British model, is exploring overseas opportunities after facing nearly £60 million in additional costs. New Look, Co-op, and even Poundland are closing stores at an alarming rate.
As I warned last November, once-booming bakery chain Greggs is struggling to swallow the Budget.
Sales are slowing as cash-strapped Brits can no longer afford a reasonably priced sausage roll. With 30,000 staff, Greggs’s costs have soared too.
Trainer specialist JD Sports Fashion has also criticised Labour’s Budget, calling it “too much to bear” for British businesses.
Reeves is like a one-woman pandemic.
The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) warns that around 17,350 retail sites will shut this year.
That’s a brutal 28% increase on the 13,000 closures in 2024. CRR director Joshua Bamfield predicts more than 200,000 retail job losses in total.
By increasing the cost of running stores and squeezing household budgets, Reeves has created a perfect storm, driving businesses to the brink.
The impact is visible whenever people step outside their homes.
Yes, the internet must shoulder a large chunk of the blame. But what made our deluded Chancellor decide high street retailers were ripe for a tax raid is anyone’s guess. Now her policies appear to be killing them off for good.
