Number of UK retailers on brink of collapse soars by 25%

Fewer consumers visited high streets and shopping centres for the Boxing Day sales this year. Photograph: Vuk Valcic/Zuma Press Wire/Rex/Shutterstock

The number of UK retailers on the brink of collapse has risen by a quarter in the final three months of the year, driven by a combination of rising business costs and weak consumer confidence, according to a report.

The proportion of retail businesses classed as being in “critical” financial distress increased by 25% to 2,124 in the fourth quarter compared with the previous three months, the insolvency specialists Begbies Traynor said.