High street shops had terrible 2024 with ‘drab’ December month as closures up by 28%

HIGH street shops have had another ­terrible 12 months — with almost 13,500 closing for good.

Around 37 a day shut in 2024, a 28 per cent rise on 2023 levels, according to the Centre For Retail Research.

And the number of shoppers fell again, with December termed a “drab” month.

Total UK footfall over the year fell 2.2 per cent on 2023 while December saw shopper visits drop 2.5 per cent compared with the previous year, according to the British Retail Consortium‘s Sensormatic Footfall Monitor.