A record number of shops disappeared from high streets across the country in the first half of 2020 as the Covid-19 lockdowns hammered the retail sector.
A total of 11,120 chain store outlets closed between January and June, while 5,119 opened. The 6,001 net store closures was a record high and compared with 3,509 in the first half of last year.
Analysts predict there will be many more closures to come as the data does not include outlets that were temporarily closed under lockdown rules when analysts visited and which might end up permanently shuttered. Read more…..

Chart of the Day
Icarus TV
Pandemic Update.