PCR Tech and IT retail, distribution and vendor news
With seemingly more and more high street stores closing this year, a staggering number of UK retail workers have either lost their jobs, or have their fate currently hanging in the balance.
Stats from BBC 5 Live’s Wake Up To Money show that more than 7,000 retail workers have lost their jobs so far in 2018. A further 9,500 roles are due to go through planned shop closures, and the latest news about Poundworld going in to administration puts another 5,100 jobs at risk.
The stats show that 1,200 shops run by major chains have either shut or are currently at risk of closure, and that’s just in the first 6 months of the year.
A report by PwC has revealed that 4,000 high street shops opened last year, but 5,800 closed, causing a net loss of 1,800.
Some of the biggest job losses have come from Toys R Us, and on the tech retail side, Maplin, which employed 2,300 staff and closed its last branch at the end of June.
The 200-store chain was one of the UK’s biggest electronics retailers. It collapsed into administration in February after talks with buyers failed to secure a sale.
Maplin began as a mail-order business in 1972, providing electronic components to hobbyists. In 2018 it says it was hit by a slump in the pound after the Brexit vote.
