New figures from the Centre for Retail Research (CRR) have revealed that job losses in retail reached nearly 26,000 this year, the highest figure since the midst of the recession in 2012.
The CRR has said that 25,933 people lost their jobs this year, four times the amount of people who lost their jobs last year, as a result of 22 medium and large retailers going bust, including BHS and, more recently, Staples. However, this figure does not include job losses at retailers who are still trading. “Though there are fewer companies failing than a few years ago the impact is a lot bigger because the chains that are going have managed to survive since the recession,” director of the CRR Professor Joshua Bamfield said.
“Many of them are quite large or they are people who, after years of clinging on for dear life, are saying it’s not worth bothering any more.
“People closing before Christmas is also a really bad sign because Christmas is where you make your profits so if you’re saying it’s not worth carrying on for a couple of months that is a bad signal.”
