Retail job cuts pass 24,000

By Liz Wells in Industry News 6th July 2020

More than 24,000 jobs have been lost at high street retailers in administration in the first half of the year after the coronavirus pandemic sparked the collapse of many well-known brands, new research shows.

Figures from the Centre for Retail Research (CRR) reveal that 24,348 jobs have been lost across insolvent UK retailers, and 31,628 jobs are still at risk because many retailers still expected to permanently close some stores.

Experts said this represents almost 56,000 retail workers who have been impacted by retail administrations, which is already higher than the total of workers impacted by insolvencies in the sector for the whole of 2019.

The CRR said a further 15,300 jobs have already been shed at solvent large retailers looking to cut costs.

Joshua Bamfield, director at the CRR, warned: “With the tapering of furlough from next month and the scheduled end of the lease forfeiture moratorium in September, the second half of the year could be disastrous for high streets.”

Bamfield added: “The government should reduce VAT to 15% and institute free parking on council-owned car parks for the next six months to act as a high street stimulus, as well as requiring all public lavatories to be reopened.”