To conclude + the future

There is no doubt that over the last decade British retail has faced considerable economic and social challenges which has affected stores on UK’s high street. Since 2007 and the subsequent economic downturn, retailers have appeared and disappeared, rebranded, merged and become rarefied.

2008 and 2012 were particular bleak times for the high street with store closures and job losses; in the former year, a total of 5,793 stores and almost 75,000 employees were affected. Conditions still remained challenging but 2015, it appeared that green shoots of recovery were emerging as the lowest numbers of failed businesses and closed stores since 2007 were recorded.

Unfortunately the upward trajectory has not continued. Last year, 2018, was particularly challenging for the British high street. The unstoppable shift to online shopping, rising rents, and the uncertainty in the economy following 2016’s Brexit vote has created a climate which has made trading extremely problematic for brands. As a result 2018 saw 18,443 stores close with the loss of 110,658 jobs [source].

So what now for the high street? Circumstances are such that in order to survive retailers need to adapt and be reactive to whatever the economy or shopping trends throw at them. This is not a time to rest on your successes; online shopping is not going away anytime soon so those retailers with a physical presence need to find inventive ways of bringing punters into their stores. Recovery Road has already exemplified some of these opportunities in offline-online partnerships and clicks-to-bricks but it is up to the retail sector to listen intentently to their customers and act swiftly and accordingly.