Retailers are facing increasing pressures that sent more businesses in the sector into critical financial distress in the last three months of the year.
The number of retailers showing signs of financial difficulties rose by more that 25 per cent to 2,124 in the final quarter of 2024, according to the insolvency firm Begbies Traynor.
Boxing Day trading on the high street appears to have been disappointing, with footfall across UK retailers down by close to 9 per cent compared with the same day last year. Some retailers even chose to remain closed.
A survey for December 27 suggested that shoppers had returned to some extent, with footfall across all retail destinations up 8 per cent compared with the same day last year, according