UK high streets have shed more than 140,000 jobs this year as store closures and retail failures made 2019 one of the most challenging years in a generation. More than 2,750 jobs were lost every week, according to a detailed analysis by the Centre for Retail Research (CRR) published today. It predicts the picture will worsen in 2020, unless the government intervenes, with high business rates one of the factors blamed for accelerating chain store closures. Prof Joshua Bamfield, the CRR’s director, said retail was in crisis owing to high costs, low levels of profitability and sales moving online. “These problems are felt by most businesses operating from physical stores in high streets or shopping malls,” Bamfield said. “The low growth in consumer spending since 2015 has meant that the growth in online sales has come at the expense of the high street.”
Champagne has slumped in popularity in the UK over the past year, while consumers also kept other forms of sparkling wine on ice. Sales of the premium French bubbly fell by 28% from about 18m to 13m bottles in the last recorded 12 months, leaving the UK market worth £613m – or about £47 a bottle. The figures suggest that the lower-end champagne has been hit particularly hard. As recently as 2016, more than 23m bottles were sold in the UK, which was worth £753m, or £33 a bottle – according to the Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA), the industry body that compiles the figures. The lack of fizz in the champagne market came as the WSTA reported that general sparkling wine sales had also dropped by volume, slipping by about 5% on last year to around 140m bottles, with revenues flat at £1.5bn.
