One of the major issues of the Pandemic and Brexit has been the gradual demise of the High Street. It is estimated that 450 shops per day, of all sizes, closed during 2022. Another reason for the closures has been the rise of online shopping.

The British Retail Consortium has complained to the Government that they are not competing on a level playing field with online retailers, although there has been a great deal of if you can’t beat them join them from medium-sized retailers.

Quite often, the bricks and mortar shops are not beaten on price, but convenience and the ancillary costs of visiting high streets or shopping malls.

As we enter a new year, this is a phenomenon that looks irreversible as local authorities continue to increase business rates and costs of parking and public transport.

The Government has failed abysmally in agreeing free trade deals with its major partners since Brexit. They report that agreements in place with 63.1% of the country’s partners. However, no trade deal is in place with the U.S. despite an application being made in 2021.

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