Small convenience stores are losing out to the might of the supermarket chains and their number has nearly halved in the past 11 years, a major accountancy firm has said.
Research, conducted by Grant Thornton, show that the number of stores offering food, drink and tobacco is in serious decline.
In 1994, there were 64,205 convenience stores in the UK, but by 2005 their number had decreased to just 33,150.
Retailers have long complained that the way in which supermarkets operate is both unfair to them and will ultimately lead to less choice for consumers.
The Competition Commission is currently holding a wide-ranging inquiry into the sector and supermarket practices are under the spotlight.
Also, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) recently ruled out any extension to Sunday trading, suggesting concern in central government at the current state of UK retail.
The original Sunday Trading Act was passed in 1994, since then the number of stores has nearly halved.
David Bush, head of retail at Grant Thornton believes that the ‘ever stronger competition from the supermarkets’, is a crucial reason for the decline in the number of small shops.
He said: “The UK, famously described as a nation of shopkeepers by Napoleon, has now far fewer individual retailers - at least of the kind selling food and drink - than ever before.
“The last 10 years have seen enormous changes on the British high street.
“These can perhaps be summed up in more mainstream product choice but a reduction in the number of retailers where that choice can be exercised.
“Increasingly homogeneous high streets and businesses falling by the wayside have been by-products of this change.”
© Crimson Business Ltd 2006
