site stats High street fashion giant warns of MORE closures after shutting 135 stores – and UK stores are at risk – Posopolis

High street fashion giant warns of MORE closures after shutting 135 stores – and UK stores are at risk


A FASHION giant has warned that more shops are set to shut, putting UK branches at risk, after already closing 135 stores worldwide.

Bosses said the cuts are part of a major cost-saving plan to boost profits as shoppers keep a tight grip on their wallets.

E0H2Y4 Shelving , Hanging Goods and Logo, H&M Clothing Store Interior in Times Square, NYC, USA. Image shot 2014. Exact date unknown.
Sales still rose by two per cent to 57 billion krona (£4.51 billion) despite
FILE PHOTO: The logo for H&M is displayed outside a store in Stockholm, Sweden, September 23, 2025. REUTERS/Tom Little/File Photo
The retailer said its cost-cutting drive is paying of

The Swedish high street chain, H&M, confirmed 21 of the closures were in Western Europe, meaning British shoppers could see more sites vanish from the high street.

Bosses said the cuts are part of a major cost-saving plan to boost profits as shoppers keep a tight grip on their wallets.

H&M and its Monki-branded stores were among those affected, with more closures planned in the coming months.

The retailer said its cost-cutting drive is paying off.

Operating profit soared to 4.91 billion Swedish krona (£390 million) in the three months to the end of August – up from 3.51 billion krona (£280 million) a year earlier.

Sales still rose by two per cent to 57 billion krona (£4.51 billion) despite the fall in store numbers, thanks to a strong autumn collection.

Chief executive Daniel Erver said the company is: “taking further steps in the right direction” but admitted customers remain “cautious” in the current economic climate.

He added: “Through a stronger customer offering, an improved gross margin and good cost control, we have strengthened operating profit compared with the same quarter last year.

“The increase in profit shows that we are on the right track as a result of the progress we have made in our plan.

“In an environment of ongoing uncertainty with cautious consumers, all of us within the H&M group are consistently focusing on our customer offering – always giving the best value for money.”


The chain, which has hundreds of stores across the UK, is now pressing ahead with its restructuring plans to save cash and secure long-term growth.

Industry experts warn the shake-up could hit some British high streets hard, piling more pressure on struggling town centres already facing a string of closures.

Trouble on the high street

Like plenty of other retailers, River Island has felt the pinch of rising costs coupled with low consumer spending.

Hobbycraft pulled down the shutters on its branch in Crayford, London, last Saturday, September 20.

Today its site in Norfolk will close and a branch in Stafford will shut next Sunday, September 28.

As a result, the retailer has launched massive sales of up to 70% off at all three stores to clear its stock before they shut.

It comes after Hobbycraft closed its Maidenhead and Chichester branches on Thursday.

The chain launched a strategic review of the business in May to look at balancing the books.

The Original Factory Shop has been closing stores across the UK for the past several weeks as part of a restructuring.

Over the weekend, it shut its branch in Market Drayton, Shropshire.

The company has already shuttered several stores this year, with 28 shops facing the axe.

RETAIL PAIN IN 2025

The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury’s hike to employer NICs will cost the retail sector £2.3billion.

Research by the British Chambers of Commerce shows that more than half of companies plan to raise prices by early April.

A survey of more than 4,800 firms found that 55% expect prices to increase in the next three months, up from 39% in a similar poll conducted in the latter half of 2024.

Three-quarters of companies cited the cost of employing people as their primary financial pressure.

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.”

Professor Bamfield has also 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.”

R9MNH1 Ocean Terminal shopping centre, Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom, 26th December 2018. H&M shop front advertising a Boxing Day sale with shoppers walking past a large red sale sign in the window display
Industry experts warn the shake-up could hit some British high streets hard

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