Full list of shops, pubs and banks closing this year – including Wetherspoon, Paperchase and Barclays
HIGH street retail is taking a major hit this year and many shops are shutting their stores forever.
Some 15,000 stores are expected to close this year - including hundreds of stores operated by popular household names.
Retailers are feeling the pinch due to high inflation, which was sitting at 10.5% in December.
Although that's down from November's rate of 10.7%, it's still five times higher than the Bank of England’s target of two per cent.
Food prices soared by 16.8% in the year to December, with basics such as milk, cheese and eggs seeing the largest increases.
Energy and fuel costs have all been hit by a pandemic hangover, the war in Ukraine and a shortage of essential workers which has put immense pressure on businesses.
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So which shops, banks and pubs have been affected by soaring costs? We take a look below.
Paperchase
Although no store closures are officially confirmed for Paperchase, the company started lining up administrators.
The business was in talks to secure a pre-pack administration deal.
However, Tesco saved the stationery chain's brand last week but hundreds of branches will still close.
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We've listed all the Paperchase stores at risk of permanent closure.
M&Co
The retailer, previously called Mackay’s fell in to administration for the second time in two years at the start of December.
Administrators at Teneo put the bust business up for sale with an auction deadline for interested buyers.
And while the M&Co brand has been bought by Yours Clothing, the stores haven't.
An insider source also told The Sun that the sale of the brand means M&Co's 170 shops will close forever, putting 1,910 jobs at risk.
H&M
H&M has started closing branches across the UK as high street retail struggles.
The clothing brand's closures include branches in Burton and Maidenhead.
It's also confirmed another two closures will happen in Hartlepool and Isle of Wight, but hasn't yet set a date.
It is unclear whether these will be permanent or if jobs are at risk.
Argos
Argos will be shutting all of its stores in the Republic of Ireland this year.
The chain has roughly 580 staff members in 34 stores across the country.
The closures will happen by June 24, but no other UK stores will be affected.
The company said it found that the investment required to develop and modernise the Irish part of its business was “not viable”.
You can read about where all the Argos branches in Ireland are in our guide.
Argos is owned by major supermarket Sainsbury's.
It comes as Sainsbury's announced recently that Lloyd's Pharmacy is withdrawing its services from over 200 Sainsbury's stores.
Wetherspoon
Punters will be displeased to hear Wetherspoon is putting 39 of its pubs up for sale after two already collapsed for good.
It comes as the pub chain saw like-for-like sales drop 1.1% in the five weeks to November 6, 2022, when compared with pre-pandemic trading in 2019.
However, the news doesn't necessarily mean the branches will close yet - they'll stay open until they are bought.
Of the pubs up for sale, 11 are in London, while others are based in major cities including Southampton and Derby.
You can see the full list in our guide.
Stonegate
Pub giant Stonegate, which is behind brands such as Slug and Lettuce and Be At One, is looking to sell off pubs to pay down its debt pile.
The chain, which is owned by private equity firm TDR Capital, has racked up £2.6billion in debt and reportedly plans to sell 1,000 of its pubs for an estimated £800million.
The chain has 4,492 pubs, bars and nightclubs across the country.
Stonegate declined to comment when approached by The Sun - so it's unclear for now which venues could close their doors.
Banks
Digital and online banking has taken a firm lead in the industry, meaning many bank branches are set to close this year.
There are 296 planned closures for 2023 and a number have already pulled down their shutters this year.
HSBC is set to close 114 branches and NatWest will bring down the shutters on 66 branches.
Lloyds Bank will shut 36 outlets and will close 41.
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TSB, Halifax, Santander and Nationwide are also affected by closures.
You can read the full list and locations in our guide.