The UK high street is in turmoil, with stores closing up and down the country at an alarming rate, and experts are warning that the situation could get even worse
The UK High Street is in crisis, with over 13,000 stores shutting down last year, and experts warn even more closures are on the horizon, impacting some of the country’s biggest retailers.
The shutters are down on dozens of outlets across the UK, with many well-known brands included in the growing list. A new interactive map shows the rapid decline, revealing that more than 200 shops and banks have already closed their doors in 2025 alone.
High Street retailers are being squeezed by competition from online stores coupled with high commercial rents and sluggish consumer spending as they battle to keep their flagship shops viable. Fashion retailers are being hit hardest, with New Look, Select Fashion, Monki, and Quiz Clothing all shutting several stores.
More than half the High Street shops going out of business this year have been operated by fashion retailers. Other major retailers closing down stores include WHSmith and Homebase.
Meanwhile, over 60 bank branches have shut down this year, many of them occupying prime High Street locations in towns and cities. This is part of the long-running trend towards online banking.
Lloyds, Halifax, Barclays, and Bank of Scotland have closed branches since the start of the year. Just this week, Santander announced the closure of another 95 branches, which will come into effect in the coming months.
A report released in January by the Centre for Retail Research revealed that more than 13,000 High Street stores closed last year. The Centre has predicted that in 2025, this figure could rise to 17,350 store closures, with over 14,500 of those affecting independent retailers.
Earlier this year, Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the Centre for Retail Research, told The Express: “Whilst the results for 2024 show that although the outcomes for store closures overall were not as poor as in either 2020 or 2022, they are still disconcerting, with worse set to come in 2025.”
Our interactive map allows readers to type in their postcode to see which high street businesses have closed in their area during the first three months of 2025.
READ MORE: Map shows where more than 200 High Street businesses have shut up shop so far in 2025
Business leaders have warned that retailers will face new pressure starting next month as employers face an increase in national insurance contributions, which will raise the cost of hiring staff.
A survey by the British Chambers of Commerce found most firms expect prices to increase in the next three months.
Zelf Hussain, restructuring partner at PwC UK, said retailers “continue to face significant challenges in 2025.” He added: “While household finances are improving, consumer confidence remains cautious.
“Additionally, with substantial payroll cost increases and higher business rates taking effect in April, profit margins will remain under pressure, further straining high street retailers.”
Here are some of the major retailers who have closed stores so far in 2025 as well as planned closures…
WHSmith
WHSmith is making big changes, shifting away from high street stores to focus on travel retail. Recently, they’ve closed branches in Basingstoke, Bolton, and Bournemouth, with the Basingstoke store shutting its doors on February 1, 2025, due to lease issues and tough trading conditions.
However, the company has stepped up its partnership with Toys “R” Us, planning to open 37 new shop-in-shops, bringing the total to 76. Plus, it’s set to open around 110 new stores in airports, train stations, and hospitals.
Here are the towns being impacted:
Accrington
Long Eaton
Newtown
Rhyl
Basingstoke
Bolton
Winton, Bournemouth
Bournemouth
Luton
Homebase
Homebase is going through big changes after it went into administration in late 2024. The Range’s parent company, CDS Superstores, bought 71 former Homebase stores and turned some into The Range shops. However, 33 Homebase stores have closed, and 52 in total have shut down since then. Wickes has also taken over four of the closed stores and will reopen them later this year.
This towns are affected:
St Albans
Stockport
Ewell
Honiton
Catford
Milton Keynes
Orpington
Hamilton,
Omagh
Londonderry
Farnham
Truro
Basingstoke
Bracknell
Bury St Edmunds
Dunfermline
Leeds
Bradford
Broadstairs
Cheltenham
Colchester Stanway
Coventry
Derby Chaddesden
Hull Hessle
Streatham Vale
Oban
Oldbury
Romford
Wolverhampton
Branksome
Hove
Abingdon
Harlow
Daventry
Selly Oak
Norwich Hall Road
Norwich Sprowston
Newcastle Under Lyme
Belfast
Glenrothes
Select Fashion
Select Fashion closed 35 stores, affecting locations such as Ashington, Chippenham, Hartlepool, Hull Hessle, Hull St Stephens, Merthyr Tydfil, Peterlee, Scarborough, Scunthorpe, South Shields, Thornaby, and Wellingborough.
These closures are part of a broader trend affecting the UK retail sector, where many fashion stores are struggling due to changing shopping habits and economic pressures.
Here’s where has been impacted:
Accrington
Ashington
Ashton-under-Lyne
Birkenhead
Bletchley
Bristol Broadmead
Bristol Broadwalk Shopping Centre
Chippenham
Coalville
Cowley
Crewe
Eastleigh
Hartlepool
Hatfield
Hemel Hampstead
Hull Hessle
Hull St Stephen’s
Kidderminster
Merthyr Tydfil
Middlesbrough
Newport
Peterlee
Port Talbot
Preston
Runcorn
Scarborough
Scunthorpe
South Shields
Southampton
Thornaby
Torquay
Wellingborough
Witham
Wolverhampton
Worksop
New Look
The UK fashion retailer has lost four of their stores already and will reportedly be closing 26 stores in total, resulting in about 350 job losses.
These places are impacted:
St Austell
Gateshead
Loughborough
Porth, Rhondda Cynon Taf
Monki
Monki, a women’s fashion brand owned by H&M, is closing all seven of its UK stores in 2025 as part of a strategy to merge with Weekday, another H&M brand. The affected locations include stores in London, Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham, Sheffield, Bristol, and Newcastle upon Tyne.
The full list includes:
Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Manchester
Birmingham
London
Bristol
Sheffield
Quiz Clothing
The fashion retailer has closed 23 stores across the UK and Ireland after entering administration in February 2025. This move has resulted in approximately 200 job losses. Here’s which towns have been hit:
Brighton (Churchill Square)
Bristol (Cribbs Causeway)
Derry (Richmond Centre)
Doncaster (Frenchgate Centre)
Dundee (Overgate)
Enniskillen (Erneside)
Exeter (Princesshay)
Falkirk (Howgate Centre)
Fareham (Whiteley Shopping Centre)
Glasgow (Forge Shopping Centre)
Grimsby (Freshney Place)
Liverpool (South John Street)
Maidstone (Fremlin Walk)
Milton Keynes (Silbury Arcade)
Motherwell (Brandon Parade S)
Peterborough (Queensgate)
Preston (Friargate Walk)
Southampton (Westquay)
Swansea (Queens Arcade)
Telford (Telford Centre)
Dobbies
Dobbies Garden Centres is closing 17 locations across the UK, affecting around 465 jobs. The closures include stores in places like Rugby, Morpeth, and Leicester as part of a plan to restructure due to financial struggles. This is part of a wider trend of high-street retailers facing tough times.
Superdry
Superdry is closing 25 to 30 stores across Europe, and recently, stores in Bradford and Baildon have shut down.
Trespass
Trespass, the outdoor clothing retailer with over 300 UK stores, has closed several locations due to financial challenges. In July 2023, the company announced plans to close six sites, including Norwich and Sutton Coldfield. More recently, the Middlesbrough store in Hillstreet Shopping Centre shut down less than two years after opening.
Banks
Lloyds, Halifax, Barclays, and Bank of Scotland have closed branches this year, and Santander recently announced 95 more closures set for the coming months.
Lloyds Bank
The areas impacted by Lloyds Bank closures include:
London Baker Street
Leeds
Gorleston-on-Sea
Wisbech
Derby
Kitts Green
Macclesfield
Swindon
Kendal
Cranbrook
Brecon
Stow-on-the-Wold
Brynmawr
Chesham
St Ives
Liskeard
Presteigne
Bletchley
Blyth
Surbiton
Dewsbury
Halifax Bank
The towns impacted by Halifax Bank closures:
London W2
Eccles
Telford
Longton
Liverpool Old Swan
Shirley
Palmers Green
Tonbridge
Keynsham
Sutton-in-Ashfield
Leighton Buzzard
Winchester
Bulwell
Stratford-upon-Avon
Wisbech
Walton-on-Thames
North Shields
Port Talbot
Belfast
Belfast
Kendal
Gillingham
Burgess Hill
Didcot
Camberley
Gosport
Barclays
Here’s the current list of places affected by Barclays Bank closures:
Tottenham Court Road
Cockermouth
Ystrad Mynach
Barnard Castle
Tredegar
Pickering
St Neots
Willesden Green
Bank of Scotland
These are the places affected by BoS Banks shutting:
Kirkcaldy
Dunfermline
Kyle
Golspie
Montrose
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