Almost 10,000 retail jobs lost already this year

Data from the Centre for Retail Research revealed that 9,949 jobs have been shed following store closures at Debenhams, Arcadia, Mothercare, Game and HMV since the turn of the year.

More than 1,200 more jobs were left hanging in the balance when department store chain Beales and toy specialist Hawkin’s Bazaar both slumped into administration last week.

And big-four grocers Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons have all lifted the lid on restructuring plans over the last few weeks that are likely to result in thousands more job losses.

Morrisons alone is set to axe 3,000 department managers across its stores, as revealed by Retail Week, although it will create 7,000 hourly paid roles instead.

The figures come as a fresh blow less than a week after the British Retail Consortium said 57,000 jobs were lost in the fourth quarter of 2019, compared with the same period the prior year.

Analysts believe those numbers will increase with more retailers teetering on the brink.

Julie Palmer, partner at insolvency specialist Begbies Traynor, told the BBC: “We’re going to see more retail failures this year.

“January is traditionally a really bad month for retailers, and if retailers have not had a good Christmas they will really struggle, particularly at the end of January when the quarterly rent bill is due.”