High street shops closing at record rate

Self-help measures taken by desperate shop owners on the High

Street need to be be urgently bolstered by Government, a report due this week will urge.

Figures to be published by the British Independent Retailers Association will show that although the rapid rate of decline over the past two years has begun to slow, the estimated 330,000 stores operated by family firms and small businesses are still closing at a faster rate than shops are opening.

The British Independent Retailers Association was previously known as the British Shops and Stores Association. The mission, however, remains the same: to provide unrivalled support and commercial advantage for independent retailers in the UK small business sector.