High street closures: Major stores loved and lost in 2024 as "alarming" statistics revealed in video report

A total of 13,479 stores permanently closed last year, marking a 28% increase from 2023, though the losses were less severe than those recorded between 2019 and 2022.

Big-name casualties of the year included Homebase, The Body Shop, Lloyd's Pharmacy, Carpetright and Ted Baker, leaving gaps in shopping centres and high streets across the country, as well as costing hundreds of jobs.

Professor Joshua Bamfield, the Research Director at the Centre for Retail Research, described the findings as “alarming”.

His group anticipates store closures to rise to 17,350 this year, with nearly 15,000 of those closures coming from independent retailers. Adding to the burden, retailers are bracing for an increase in business rates.

A planned reduction in the business rates discount from 75% to 40%, announced in the autumn budget, will see average rates bills jump.

We asked shoppers and businesses across the country what should be done to breathe new life into our high streets.

Solutions included councils providing more free parking at peak times, cutting business rates and sprucing up pavements and eyesore empty shop units.