Rising costs and changing shopping habits have driven a fresh wave of UK high street closures this autumn, with major chains including TG Jones, B&M and Lloyds Bank shutting dozens of branches across the country.
TG Jones closes 22 branches in one month
Stationery retailer TG Jones has been among the hardest hit, closing 22 branches from York to Stratford-upon-Avon in October alone. The closures are part of a wider 150-store restructuring that will also remove in-store Post Office counters from town centres.
B&M and Typo exit key locations
Discount retailer B&M is set to close its 20,000-square-foot store on County Road in Walton, Liverpool, on Friday, November 6, as part of local estate consolidation. No job losses are expected, with staff to be relocated to nearby sites.
Stationery and gifts chain Typo closed its Eldon Square store in Newcastle on October 9, following parent company Cotton On Group's announcement that it will leave the UK market entirely by early 2027. Typo stores in Westfield Stratford, Bluewater, Cambridge, Meadowhall, Canterbury and the Gateshead Metrocentre will remain open through the autumn and festive season before closing ahead of the deadline.
Lloyds Bank and TK Maxx also affected
October also saw 23 standalone Lloyds Bank branches close across England and Wales, starting in Rochdale on October 1 and ending in Braintree on October 29.
TK Maxx will leave its long-standing site in Worthing's Montague Centre on Sunday, November 8, but will reopen four days later on November 12 in a former Poundland unit on Montague Street.
Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the Centre for Retail Research, said: "The problems of changed customer shopping habits, inflation, rising energy costs, rents and business rates have continued and forced many retailers to cut back even more strongly."
