Several large retail companies could go bust in 2013, a major insolvency firm has warned.
Begbies Traynor said new research has found 140 retailers were facing ‘critical’ financial issues, and a poor Christmas performance had made the situation worse.
The company also said there had been a 35 per cent rise to 13,700 in UK retail businesses experiencing ‘significant’ financial distress.
Julie Palmer, Partner at Begbies Traynor, said: “Though the performance of national retailers is well documented, it represents just the tip of the iceberg with thousands of smaller and specialist retailers struggling to stay afloat in today’s Austerity Britain.”
She also said a late surge created by last minute Christmas shopping may help some firms, but this would be a short-lived reprieve and many would still go to the wall.
Sectors most affected by the downturn in sales were books, news and stationary; pharmaceutical and alcohol. Many shoppers are looking at goods in high street stores before searching for the best deal online.
Several large retail companies could go bust in 2013, a major insolvency firm has warned.Begbies Traynor said new research has found 140 retailers were facing ‘critical’ financial issues, and a poor Christmas performance had made the situation worse.The company also said there had been a 35 per cent rise to 13,700 in UK retail businesses experiencing ‘significant’ financial distress.Julie Palmer, Partner at Begbies Traynor, said: “Though the performance of national retailers is well documented, it represents just the tip of the iceberg with thousands of smaller and specialist retailers struggling to stay afloat in today’s Austerity Britain.”She also said a late surge created by last minute Christmas shopping may help some firms, but this would be a short-lived reprieve and many would still go to the wall.Sectors most affected by the downturn in sales were books, news and stationary; pharmaceutical and alcohol. Many shoppers are looking at goods in high street stores before searching for the best deal online.
