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Manchester Evening News

National

Rachel Pugh & Levi Winchester

Every TK Maxx, New Look, Boots and B&Q store closing this Spring - the full list

TK Maxx Boots New Look (Organization) Lloyds Halifax (Organization) Homesense United Kingdom BQ Aldi Werspoons

With the cost of living crisis still putting a sting on people's wallets, several of the UK's most popular high-street retailers are shutting stores across the UK. Retail giants like TK Maxx, New Look, Boots and B&Q have all announced closures, in what's being called a devastating blow to the UK high street.

As well as shops, some food and drink chains are also shutting up shop. Popular budget pub chain Wetherspoons has confirmed that 9 pubs have already been sold off, and 35 hostelries have been put on the market. Byron Burger, which competes with the likes of McDonald's and Burger King, is also closing several of its branches.

The closures don't stop there. Lloyds Banking Group, which owns both Lloyds and Halifax banks, is shutting 22 Lloyds branches and 18 Halifax sites this year. A spokesperson said that customer visits to the affected bank branches have dropped by around 60% on average, forcing them to shut their doors.

The UK high street previously suffered a tough two years due to the coronavirus crisis, where lockdown measures meant that many popular stores saw a decline in footfall. Almost 50 shops closed down every day last year as retailers grappled with soaring energy costs, wider inflation and online shopping, according to Centre for Retail Research.

And now, figures by the expert research and analysis foundation, show that around 15,000 stores across UK high streets are expected to close this year, with the Professor Joshua Bamfield, the director, saying that "big hitters" could also go under.

Here's the full list of retailers affected, as reported by the Mirror:

TK Maxx and Homesense

TK Maxx and Homesense will be closing stores over the next few weeks in another blow for the UK high street. Homesense is a subsidiary of TK Maxx which sells homeware pieces such as ornaments, storage, home decor and plants.

The Edinburgh site will close next week (Wednesday, February 15) due to the landlord pulling the lease. Meanwhile, the Homesense site in Manchester's Arndale Centre will close on Wednesday, March 1.

Swansea will also lose its Homesense store, currently located at Parc Fforestfach, which be relocated by the end of March.

The spokesperson for TK Maxx said: "Our senior managers have been in store supporting the team. We’re currently in consultation with all affected associates and our intention is that all associates will be offered roles in other local TK Maxx or Homesense stores."

Deborah Dolce, Group Director, TJX Europe said: “We are proud of our continued investment in communities across the country through new store openings, store modernisations and relocations. Last year we opened two new stores – a TK Maxx in Bromborough and a Homesense in Altrincham. This year, we’re opening another three new TK Maxx stores and a new Homesense store in Stevenage. To meet growing customer demand on tkmaxx.com, we’re also opening a new logistics centre in Crewe which will create jobs for the local community. We look forward to bringing new, bright and beautiful TK Maxx and Homesense stores to even more shoppers across the UK and offering great retail careers to those communities.”

The stores closing are:

Homesense - Manchester Arndale Shopping Centre - Manchester
Homesense - Parc Fforestfach - Swansea
TK Maxx - Meadowbank shopping park - Edinburgh

New Look

Fashion retailer New Look is shutting stores across the UK. However, the high street giant has said that the closures are part of its "normal course of business" as new sites will be opening also.

It added that it is working to find "suitable alternative roles" for the staff that will be affected by their stores closing.

The stores that are set to shut their doors are:

Birmingham, Fort Shopping Park - January 9
Trowbridge - January 23
Coventry - January 29
Birmingham, Bullring - January 30
Walthamstow, London - February 4
Grosvenor Centre, Northampton - February 15
Kirkcaldy- early February

Boots

Boots has confirmed it will be closing three stores this spring. The branches closing are:

Boots, Salford Shopping Centre, Greater Manchester
Boots, Church Street store in Malvern
Boots, The Port Arcades Shopping Centre in Ellesmere

B&Q

The popular DIY chain has announced that it is to close eight of its sites in Asda stores within the next few weeks. B&Q staff will be offered alternative roles in nearby stores, so no jobs will be lost as a result. The home improvement store added that the decision was made after an "intensive review" of the test format.

B&Q's eight locations set to shut are:

Sheffield Drakehouse
Dagenham
Roehampton
Edmonton
Thurmaston
Great Bridge
Lancaster
Hartlepool

Wetherspoons

The popular pub giant has announced 19 pubs have already been sold off, and 35 hostelries have been put on the market. Now, in a huge blow to punters, a further outlet has also been added to the list as customers are hit by the cost of living crisis. The pub chain's sales fell by 1.1%, it reported on November 6, 2022, in comparison to trading before the pandemic in 2019.

Full list of pubs set to close from February:

Airside Doncaster Airport – Running Horse
Basildon – Moon on the Square
Bodmin – Chapel an Gansblydhen
Bootle – Wild Rose
Lee Green – Edmund Halley
Orpington – Harvest Moon
Taunton – Coal Orchard
Wick – Alexander Bain
Worcester – Postal Order
Wrexham – North and South Wales Bank

The 35 other pubs for sale are located all over the UK.

Lloyds and Halifax

Lloyds and Halifax will close another 40 branches this year. It must be noted that all the banks that are due to shut are within a third of a mile of at least one free-to-use cashpoint and a Post Office.

Full list of Lloyds bank closures