The UK’s struggling high street has shed nearly 170,000 retail jobs this year—the biggest annual toll since pandemic lockdowns in 2020—as shops grapple with higher taxes, surging costs and weakening consumer spending.
Figures from Altus Group and the Centre for Retail Research (CRR) reveal a 42 per cent jump in job losses compared with 2023, bringing the total to 169,395 so far this year.
High-profile administrations at The Body Shop, Ted Baker, Homebase, Carpetright and Lloyds Pharmacy underscore the mounting pressures on retailers. According to CRR director Joshua Bamfield, government caution around the economy has further dented consumer confidence, compelling households to tighten their budgets.
Retailers are bracing for a tough 2025, with more than 200,000 additional roles expected to go. Two looming policy measures—a cut in business rate relief and a sharp rise in employers’ National Insurance contributions (NICs)—threaten to hit the industry with a double blow in the spring.
Altus Group calculates that retailers’ annual business rates will rise by £688 million when the current 75 per cent discount falls to 40 per cent, while Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s plan to raise employer NICs from 13.8 per cent to 15 per cent, and lower the threshold to £5,000, adds further strain. Bamfield warns that part-time workers, making up half of the retail workforce, will bear much of the impact.
Latest data from the Office for National Statistics shows 3.6 million people currently employed in retail, wholesale and motor repairs—down from more than 4 million in 2019. November’s retail sales volumes remain 1.6 per cent below pre-pandemic levels, and Boxing Day footfall slipped by nearly 5 per cent against the same day last year, according to MRI Software.
The Treasury has defended its approach, highlighting that 40 per cent business rates relief for 250,000 properties will remain in place, and a permanent, lower rate is set to launch in 2026. It also notes that over half of employers will see no change or a reduction in their NICs bill.