A MAJOR jewellery retailer with 89 stores has confirmed that two of its branches will shut their doors this weekend.
Beaverbrooks, the well-known jewellery chain, has announced that its East Kilbride and Dundee stores will close today.
D09JJF Beaverbrooks Jewellers Shop Window Display Canterbury England. Image shot 11/2012. Exact date unknown.[/caption]
The move is part of a wider restructuring plan following a review of business performance.
The retailer had previously revealed that seven stores across the UK would shut over the coming weeks due to financial challenges.
Five additional branches in England, Birmingham Fort, High Wycombe, Huddersfield, Croydon, and Sutton Coldfield are set to close by early April.
Full list of closures:
- East Kilbride – March 16
- Dundee, Scotland – March 16
- Birmingham For – March 23
- High Wycombe – March 23
- Huddersfield – April 5
- Croydon – April 6
- Sutton Coldfield – April 6
Beaverbrooks Managing Director Anna Blackburn explained that the closures come after a review of the company’s financial performance.
She assured staff that efforts are being made to redeploy as many employees as possible within the company.
“At Beaverbrooks, we pride ourselves on our people-first culture and open, honest relationships with our colleagues.
“Our directors delivered the news in person to each team member,” she said.
The company remains optimistic about its future, with plans to open a new store in Harrogate this spring and ongoing refurbishments at several locaions.
RETAIL SECTOR STRUGGLES
The closure of these stores highlights the challenges facing the retail sector, especially for businesses with a high street presence.
The shift towards online shopping has accelerated in recent years, with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reporting that online sales have surged from 5 per cent of total retail sales in 2018 to 27 per cent in 2022.
According to the Centre for Retail Research, a staggering 13,479 stores shut their doors for good in 2024, with an average of 37 closures per day.
Many of these closures are due to insolvency proceedings, as businesses struggle to keep up with financial pressures.
Additionally, rising costs, including increased wages and property expenses, have put pressure on retailers to streamline operations.
Beaverbrooks’ most recent financial report indicated that while turnover has increased, profitability had declined significantly due to higher operating costs.
Beaverbrooks is not the only retailer facing difficulties.
High street chains such as Boots and WHSmith have also announced store closures in response to shifting consumer habits and economic pressures.
Boots has closed 300 stores, while WHSmith is reportedly looking to sell of 500 locations.
Why are retailers closing shops?
EMPTY shops have become an eyesore on many British high streets and are often symbolic of a town centre’s decline.
The Sun’s business editor Ashley Armstrong explains why so many retailers are shutting their doors.
In many cases, retailers are shutting stores because they are no longer the money-makers they once were because of the rise of online shopping.
Falling store sales and rising staff costs have made it even more expensive for shops to stay open.
The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury’s hike to employer NICs from April 2025, will cost the retail sector £2.3billion.
At the same time, the minimum wage will rise to £12.21 an hour from April, and the minimum wage for people aged 18-20 will rise to £10 an hour, an increase of £1.40.
In some cases, retailers are shutting a store and reopening a new shop at the other end of a high street to reflect how a town has changed.
The problem is that when a big shop closes, footfall falls across the local high street, which puts more shops at risk of closing.
Retail parks are increasingly popular with shoppers, who want to be able to get easy, free parking at a time when local councils have hiked parking charges in towns.
Many retailers including Next and Marks & Spencer have been shutting stores on the high street and taking bigger stores in better-performing retail parks instead.
In some cases, stores have been shut when a retailer goes bust, as in the case of Carpetright, Debenhams, Dorothy Perkins, Paperchase, Ted Baker, The Body Shop, Topshop and Wilko to name a few.
What’s increasingly common is when a chain goes bust a rival retailer or private equity firm snaps up the intellectual property rights so they can own the brand and sell it online.
They may go on to open a handful of stores if there is customer demand, but there are rarely ever as many stores or in the same places.
The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year.
The retailer had previously revealed that seven stores across the UK would shut over the coming weeks due to financial challenges[/caption]
