Full list of 43 shops and banks vanishing from British high street forever in July – is your local closing?

Scottish Sun

10 hours ago

MAJOR retailers and banks will close several stores for good this month as the high street continues to face difficulties.
The closures come as UK businesses continue to faced increased costs alongside a decline in footfall.
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More retail and bank locations are set to close in July as businesses face lower footfall and higher costs (stock image)
Credit: Getty
Changes in this year's budget, including an increase in employer National Insurance contributions and energy and rent costs have piled on pressure for companies.
As a result, some retailers have been forced to make drastic changes to remain competitive.
This includes hiking prices, reviewing expansion plans and reducing the number of stores they have.
Here is a full list of the shops and banks we know are shutting in July 2025.
The Original Factory Shop
The discount high street chain closed nine shops in June after previously warning it would have to shut some 'loss-making' locations.
This comes after the discount chain began to struggle in recent years.
And now the retailer is now set to close its location in Staveley, Cumbria on July 12.
The private equity firm Modella bought The Original Factory Shop in February and has since launched a restructuring effort.
This was carried out in an effort to renegotiate rents at 88 The Original Factory Shop stores across the country.
Modella also recently bought Hobbycraft and WHSmith's high street shops.
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Iceland
The supermarket chain will close its store on Rose Street in Inverness on July 12.
There will no longer be any Iceland stores in the Scottish city, with the closest located in Aberdeen.
This move will come just weeks after Iceland shut down its Margate branch.
The retailer has not yet confirmed the reason for the sudden closure but it has been completing a broader reshuffle of its operations in recent months.
This is part of an effort to adapt to shifting consumer habits, cost pressures, and the growing demand for convenience and online shopping.
Why are retailers closing stores?
RETAILERS have been feeling the squeeze since the pandemic, while shoppers are cutting back on spending due to the soaring cost of living crisis.
High energy costs and a move to shopping online after the pandemic are also taking a toll, and many high street shops have struggled to keep going.
However, additional costs have added further pain to an already struggling sector.
The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury's hike to employer NICs from April will cost the retail sector £2.3billion.
At the same time, the minimum wage will rise to £12.21 an hour from April, and the minimum wage for people aged 18-20 will rise to £10 an hour, an increase of £1.40.
The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has also warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year.
It comes on the back of a tough 2024 when 13,000 shops closed their doors for good, already a 28% increase on the previous year.
Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the CRR said: "The results for 2024 show that although the outcomes for store closures overall were not as poor as in either 2020 or 2022, they are still disconcerting, with worse set to come in 2025."
It comes after almost 170,000 retail workers lost their jobs in 2024.
End-of-year figures compiled by the Centre for Retail Research showed the number of job losses spiked amid the collapse of major chains such as Homebase and Ted Baker.
It said its latest analysis showed that a total of 169,395 retail jobs were lost in the 2024 calendar year to date.
This was up 49,990 – an increase of 41.9% – compared with 2023.
It is the highest annual reading since more than 200,000 jobs were lost in 2020 in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced retailers to shut their stores during lockdowns.
The centre said 38 major retailers went into administration in 2024, including household names such as Lloyds Pharmacy, Homebase, The Body Shop, Carpetright and Ted Baker.
Around a third of all retail job losses in 2024, 33% or 55,914 in total, resulted from administrations.
Experts have said small high street shops could face a particularly challenging 2025 because of Budget tax and wage changes.
Professor Bamfield has warned of a bleak outlook for 2025, predicting that as many as 202,000 jobs could be lost in the sector.
"By increasing both the costs of running stores and the costs on each consumer's household it is highly likely that we will see retail job losses eclipse the height of the pandemic in 2020."
Poundland
After a series of closures in the past few months, Poundland is set to shut down its location in Deepdale Retail Park in Preston on July 5 and another store in Newquay on July 30.
Gordon Brothers, the ex-owner of Laura Ashley, purchased the business from Polish owner Pepco Group for £1 after a downturn in trading.
The new owners are asking the court for permission to close 68 stores and negotiate lower rents on others.
Up to 82 more stores are potentially at risk of shutting down in the future.
However, before the sale was agreed, Poundland had already planned to close 18 stores, with the July shutdowns among the last to be confirmed.
New Look
The famous fashion retailer is set to close another location at the beginning of July.
Hamilton, Scotland will see its New Look store permanently pull the shutters on July 1.
The move comes after the shop announced it would be closing nearly 100 stores in the coming months.
A New Look spokesperson said: 'Our store in Hamilton is set close on July 1. We would like to thank all of our colleagues and the local community for their support over the years.
"We hope customers continue to shop with us online at newlook.com, where our full product ranges can be found.'
Santander
Santander is set to close 38 branches next month after announcing locations were struggling due to the increase in online banking.
A statement on the Santander website reads: "We last did a major review of our branches in 2021.
"Since then, many of our customers are choosing to use Mobile, Online and Telephone Banking more, and branches less."
The Santander locations set to close in July are: