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Retailer insolvency numbers jump to higher levels than pandemic
from Monday 3 July 2023
by cityam
LAURA MCGUIRE
A SQUEEZE on shoppers’ finances has increased the number of retailers being plunged into hot water, new research shows, as the cost of living crisis continues to hit customer-focussed businesses.
As inflation sits at a sticky 8.7 per cent, the number of retailers entering insolvency jumped 56 per cent in the past year, according to figures from international law firm RPC.
It’s the highest level in nearly a decade, with some 1,942 retailers going bust in 2022/23, up from 1,243 in 2021/22 — surpassing pandemic levels when shoppers were prohibited from hitting the high street.
Bigger players in the retail market
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have capitalised off this trend, snapping up businesses which have buckled under the pressurenotably Mike Ashley’s Frasers. “Challenging economic conditions over the past year have had the impact of forcing struggling retailers into insolvency,” said Finella Fogarty, partner and head of RPC’s restructuring and insolvency practice.
