High-streets suffer as 38 stores close across Great Britain each day in 2024 - but there’s hope with convenience stores, coffee shops and value retailers showing net growth

• Increase in store openings with 25 new outlets a day

• With 38 stores closing per day, this resulted in net decline of 12 outlets a day across Great Britain 

• Half of all net closures concentrated in just three categories - chemists, chain pubs and banks 

• Decline has stabilised at c.1% net closures for the first half of the year, broadly flat for last three years

• Retail parks in net growth for the second year running, and notable recovery in shopping centre openings

PwC’s latest figures for retail stores, leisure venues and service outlets opening and closing across Great Britain for the first half of 2024 finds that store openings and closures have stabilised with net closures now sitting at -1.1% for the first half of the year. The bi-annual report using data from Green Street, tracks over 200,000 chain outlets in over 3,500 locations to gain a picture of the changing landscape of high streets, shopping centres, retail parks, and other out-of-town areas.

The latest research  reinforces a trend witnessed over the last three years since the pandemic-era purge of retail, hospitality and service outlets. The peak of -2.8% for the same period at the height of the pandemic in 2020 has recovered to a more stable landscape since 2022.

The data for the first half of 2024 reveals a total of 6,945 outlets have closed their doors so far. This equates to an average of 38 store closures per day, a slight increase from the 36 closures per day recorded for the same period last year.

Conversely, the sector has also seen growth in new store openings. A total of 4,661 stores have opened so far in 2024, averaging 25 openings per day. This marks a modest increase from the 24 store openings per day also recorded in the previous year.

Net closures for 2024 is 12 per day, meaning there are 2,284 fewer outlets on high streets, shopping centres and out of town for the first six months of the year. For the third consecutive year, no GB region has deviated by more than 0.3% from the national average, indicating the evolution of high streets is not confined to one area. Instead, regions are adjusting at their own pace, with areas that had higher closures now levelling off and vice versa, reflecting adaptation to national trends.

Where are consumers shopping?

Footfall across the country’s high streets, shopping centres and retail parks is 15-20% lower than before the pandemic, and has continued to decline in 2024, not helped by the unseasonably wet weather. 

Unsurprisingly, online retail has continued to grow during 2024, with almost 28% of all retail sales online in July 2024, the highest penetration since February 2022 when physical retail sales were depressed as a result of the Omicron Covid variant. 

High streets in particular have suffered with a higher than average -1.5% net closure rate for the first six months of 2024.

While shopping centres have also experienced a drop in footfall, they have seen fewer net closures (-1.0%) than the national average (-1.1%), a welcome change after they suffered the most closures during the pandemic. Shopping centre net closures peaked at 4.7% in the first half of 2021, having been harder hit by the closure of several fashion retail and casual dining chains. Since that time, a number of shopper centres have repositioned to other more resilient retail and leisure categories. 

Retail parks continue to thrive and remain the only growing location type (+0.4%). Retail parks provide a more accessible option often with free parking, particularly for those visiting supermarkets which tend to anchor this format. Retail parks have continued to develop their offer with additional leisure amenities, in particular new hospitality venues and drive-throughs.

Lisa Hooker, Leader of Industry for Consumer Markets at PwC UK, calls on businesses to think carefully about their next steps to ensure success:

“The good news is that the rate of net closures has stabilised and consumers will always want somewhere to grab a coffee, last minute present or enjoy the experience of in-store shopping. But there are still more closures than openings impacting our high streets, so we need all stakeholders including policy makers and communities to play a role in supporting, repurposing and investing in those struggling locations. Spaces need to adapt to the hybrid world and satisfy consumer trends for convenience, variety and fun, creating spaces that fill an immediate need or feel exciting for consumers to step into.”

Categories winning and losing 

Half of all net closures are concentrated in just three categories - chemists, banks and pubs. Chemists and pubs saw 481 and 432 closures respectively, with both categories greatly impacted by the restructuring of large players. Banks (247 closures), along with estate agents (122 closures) and employment agencies (63 closures) continue to close with structural decline as demand for these services continues to migrate online or to hybrid models.

There was better news as several other categories that have traditionally experienced high closure rates saw an improvement in 2024, including fashion, furniture and electrical retailers, charity shops and betting shops. For example, fewer than 100 fashion stores closed in the first six months of 2024, compared with over 1,000 in the first half of 2021.

Only four categories are experiencing growth at a rate of more than one store per week - convenience stores (85 openings), coffee shops (58 openings), value retailers (39 openings) and cafes (34 openings). Several major grocery chains have prioritised the opening of convenience stores over full-sized supermarkets. Many of the other categories  are in out-of-town locations, on retail parks and inside supermarkets, with new drive-thrus particularly in demand. 

However, growth in the wider leisure sector has slowed since 2023, with lower customer demand and higher operating costs taking their toll on weaker chains. The food-to-go and restaurant sectors reversed their net growth at the end of 2023, and both categories saw net closures (-70 and -71 respectively) in the first half of 2024.

Rick Jones, PwC Leader of Hospitality, Leisure and Sport at PwC UK considers how the hospitality sector can move forward in light of this years results:

“How consumers choose to prioritise their pounds and use their time has changed. There’s been a continued shift, with consumers prioritising experiences and spending time with friends and family. However, despite this trend, the data shows that many leisure outlets saw net closures in the first half – particularly for those businesses hardest hit by energy and labour cost inflation.”

“Also consumer behaviours continue to evolve.  For some outlets - such as drive-thrus, coffee shops and cafes - this changing behaviour has benefited their business models while some of the more traditional models have suffered. And whilst high street leisure isn't going away, it may look a little different in the future. This provides opportunities for newer or more innovative operators to make their mark”.

^{Notes to Editors}

• ^{Green Street tracked more than 206,808 outlets operated by multiple operators across Great Britain, extended in 2020 from Top 500 high streets to all GB locations, between 1st January and 30th June 2024.}
• ^{Multiples are ‘chain outlets’ that have 5 or more outlets nationally.}
• ^{Net change is openings less closures. The percentage change is derived from the net change figure relative to the total number of live multiple businesses.}
• ^{The analysis is derived from Green Street visiting 3,500 high streets, shopping centres and retail parks across Great Britain. Each premises was visited and its occupancy status recorded as occupied, vacant or demolished. Vacant units are those units which did not possess a trading business at that location on the day visited.}