AT RISK
Major charity shop could close more than HALF of stores in latest blow to high street
This year has seen many high street businesses announce plans to shutter sites
A MAJOR charity has announced it could close half of its stores in the latest blow to the high street.
Disability charity Scope is considering shuttering 77 of its 138 shops.
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The charity's bosses have said the difficult decision is being considered in the face of declining footfall on high streets and spiralling costs.
Chief executive Mark Hodgkinson said the charity's retail arm had made a “real contribution to raising vital income”, but that external factors had “made trading harder”.
He said: "Despite our teams' best efforts our shops are collectively now losing money when taking account of all of their costs. A number make strong profits but there are loss making shops too.
“This situation isn’t confined to Scope. All retailers have been hit with a greater shift to online shopping. And we are facing rising rents, soaring energy costs, increased staff costs, and the cost of living squeezing customers.
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“As a result, and to ensure our funds are best focused upon our charitable purpose, we have let our teams know that we will be putting forward proposals to close some of our shops, in stages, over the next 18 months.”
The closure of the stores will lead to a number of job losses and impact volunteers.
Mr Hodgkinson praised Scope's "hard-working shop teams and volunteers" and confirmed it would continue to run a smaller estate.
He added: "We have to make this difficult decision, to make sure the money we raise goes to support disabled people and their families and makes the biggest difference."
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Under the proposal the first 41 shops could close by March 31, 2025.
A further 31 shops would close between April 1, 2025 and March 31, 2026 and the final phase of five more shops would close when leases come up for renewal or when there is a break.
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In its annual report for the year to March 2023, Scope said it had made £24million from trading activities, including shops and online sales, up from £23.6million the year before.
In the same year it had spent £24.7million maintaining and operating its shops, £1million more than the previous year.
The year had seen Scope close 22 underperforming shops, but it also opened two shops in the year, with six more sites planned.
While it had been a challenging year on the high street, Scope saw online sales increase by 75% in 2023/24, with sales increasing by £1.2million on the year before.
Shoppers have faced a swathe of closures on their local high streets in recent years as many favourite stores have closed branches.
High street shops have seen lower footfall and less money landing in the tills as a result of the cost-of-living crisis.
People have naturally cut back on retail therapy as they have found they have less cash in their back pockets.
The decline in spending along with high rents and escalating costs, have already forced many businesses to pursue restructuring plans and close locations.
According to data from the Centre for Retail Research 2024 saw 13,479 stores closed and more than 169,000 retail jobs lost.
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The start of 2025 has been no different with WHSmith, Monki, Currys and Millets all announcing closures.
And, several retailers have warned that October's budget, which saw employer National Insurance contributions increased, will lead them to increase prices and possibly reduce their outlet count.
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The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury's hike to employer NICs will cost the retail sector £2.3billion.
Research by the British Chambers of Commerce shows that more than half of companies plan to raise prices by early April.
A survey of more than 4,800 firms found that 55% expect prices to increase in the next three months, up from 39% in a similar poll conducted in the latter half of 2024.
Three-quarters of companies cited the cost of employing people as their primary financial pressure.
The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has also warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year.
It comes on the back of a tough 2024 when 13,000 shops closed their doors for good, already a 28% increase on the previous year.
Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the CRR said: "The results for 2024 show that although the outcomes for store closures overall were not as poor as in either 2020 or 2022, they are still disconcerting, with worse set to come in 2025."
Professor Bamfield has also warned of a bleak outlook for 2025, predicting that as many as 202,000 jobs could be lost in the sector.
"By increasing both the costs of running stores and the costs on each consumer's household it is highly likely that we will see retail job losses eclipse the height of the pandemic in 2020."
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