January and February saw a number of high street stores close their doors for good. As we continue into March, the closures are continuing with several brands saying goodbye to their stores. Last year was one of the worst ever for the British High street as over 13,000 store closures from big brands were reported, and the Centre for Retail Research believes 2025 will be even worse, with 17,349 closures predicted, reports The Metro.
Major brands from WHSmith to Greggs are among the many that will see a number of its high-street stores shut across the country. Here is a full list of UK shops that are set to close in March.
New Look
New Look announced plans to close 100 of its stores. Loughborough’s Carillon Court Shopping Centre, Leicestershire, and Porth in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, are amongst the ones that have already closed down. It comes as New Look bosses sped up the process of the closures following announcements in the Autumn Budget, including the 6.7% rise in the minimum wage.
WHSmith
WHSmith is set to close several of its high-store streets, which have struggled in recent years. The next store set to close is in Accrington, Lancashire, on March 15, after its lease expires. Stores in Essex, Suffolk, the West Midlands and Newport are set to close this month.
However, the brand is shifting its focus to shops in airports and train stations with plans to open 110 more in these locations.
Dobbies
Since mid-December, Dobbies Garden Centres has seen 16 of its outlets close down as a result of low customer numbers. The Northampton brand closed earlier this month on the 2nd but is being taken over by a family-run British Garden Centres, which will keep the current employees.
Homebase
Homebase went into administration last year but was partially saved by owners of The Range and Wilko, CDS Superstore. Many stores, however, did close down, and 18 more are expected to this month.
Locations of the Homebase stores closing this month:
- Farnham, Surrey
- Treliske Industrial Estate, Truro, Devon
- Basingstoke, Hampshire
- Bracknell. Berkshire
- Letterkenny, County Donegal
- Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk
- Halbeath Retail Park, Dunfermline, Fife
- Moor Allerton Centre, Leeds, Yorkshire
- St Albans, Hertfordshire
- Bredbury, Stockport
- Ewell, Surrey
- Heath Retail Park, Honiton, Devon
- Catford, London
- Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
- Orpington, Kent
- Hamilton, South Lanarkshire
- Omagh, County Tyrone
- Londonderry
Greggs
On March 31, bakery giant Greggs will close one of its Cambridge stores on Fitzroy Street. Branches in Amersham, Buckinghamshire and Coverty closed in January. However, the good news is that the company plans to open more stores this year to add to the over 2,500 outlets currently in the UK.
Trespass
The outdoor clothing company is shutting its Highcross Shopping Centre store in Leicester on March 31, and to mark the closure, it has launched a sale with up to 60% off on items.
In the six months, the retailer also shut down branches in Norwich, Sutton Coldfield and Coventry.
Select Fashion
The brand, which has over 100 stores, fell into administration in 2019 but was bought out by Genus UK Limited. Yet several of its stores are closing down, including ones in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales and Wellingborough in North Northamptonshire.
A large number of the other affected stores are in towns and cities across northern England, including Southshields, Peterlee, Thornaby, Hartlepool, Scarborough, Hull, Ashington and Scunthorpe.
Scope
In January, the disability charity announced it is considering closing 77 of its shops as chief executive Mark Hodgkinson revealed that the shops are « collectively now losing money ». Although a number of the shops are making a profit, as a result of some making losses, the charity put forward proposals to close the stores in three stages, with shops shutting when their leases expire, and by the end of March, 41 shops will have closed.
Beaverbooks
The jewellery and watch brand has 89 stores across the UK and announced that seven of its stores will be closing down and four will be happening in March.
A representative said: « Due to a range of factors there are seven stores that are unfortunately no longer commercially viable, and after careful and thorough consideration we have made the difficult decision to close them.
« We aim to retain as many colleagues as possible within other Beaverbrooks stores or the wider business and are working closely with each individual affected. »
The stores closing include:
- East Kilbride – March 16
- Dundee – March 16
- Birmingham Fort – March 23
- High Wycombe – March 23
- Huddersfield – April 5
- Croydon – April 6
- Sutton Coldfield – April 6
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