The trade committee noted that while the Black Friday weekend had delivered more promising results in the Golden Quarter, they were overshadowed by a “lacklustre” holiday season.

Total UK footfall in 2024 was down 2.2%, compared to 2023, and 2.5% lower in the three months to December, the BRC reported.

Shopping Centres were the worst hit, with visitor numbers falling 3.3% in the five weeks to 28 December. However, this was up from -6.1% in November.

High street’s were marginally better, with footfall down 2.7% last month compared to -3.7% in November. Retail Park footfall was unchanged in December, a rise from -1.1% the month before.

BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said: “A drab December which saw fewer shoppers in all locations, capped a disappointing year for UK retail footfall.

“This means 2024 is the second year in a row where footfall has been in decline. High streets and shopping centres were hit particularly hard throughout the year as people veered towards retail parks to take advantage of free parking and the variety of larger stores.

“Even the Golden Quarter, typically the peak of shopping activity, provided little relief, with footfall down over the period. While the Black Friday weekend delivered more promising results, they were overshadowed by a lacklustre festive season.

“Shopping habits have been changing fast and customers are increasingly looking for more experiential shopping, as well as a variety of cafes, services and things to do.

“Unfortunately, investment in town centres and high streets is held back by our outdated business rates system, which penalises town and city centres,” she added.

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Retail Gazette speaks with industry experts to find out their predictions of which retailers will be the winners and losers of 2025.

Nick Bubb

Retailing analyst 

Winner: M&S

M&S has been one of the winners of 2024, but it is well placed to build on its recent success in 2025, thanks to its significant investment in creating impressive food halls and the development of a ‘weekly shop’ food range, as well as its stronger multi-channel positioning in clothing.

Loser: B&M

B&M has been one of the losers of 2024, but it looks like it will continue to underperform in 2025, given its inability to match the powerful loyalty card discounts of its supermarket rivals in food and its failure to develop a credible presence in non-food online.

Patrick O’Brien

Research director, Globaldata Retail

Winner: John Lewis

It might seem like it’s in reverse ferret mode since Sharon White left, but John Lewis goes into 2025 on the front foot. The return of its Never Knowingly Undersold promise and the de-emphasis of its cannibalistic Anyday range is re-establishing the department store as a place for quality products at the right price.

Loser: H&M

While value clothing players scramble to fend off the threat of Shein, H&M is reacting with almost Gap-like slouchiness. Primark is more fashionable, Uniqlo does basics better, Shein is cheaper. H&M needs to find a compelling reason for people to shop there.

Susannah Streeter

Head of money and markets, Hargreaves Lansdown

Winner: Marks and Spencer

Marks and Spencer has been making remarkable progress with its ranges, which have tickled the fancy of shoppers, leading to some impressive revenue growth. Its core customers have been more insulated from cost-of-living headwinds, but they’ll still have an eye on trimming costs. Clothing and home has made some impressive strides and sales growth reflects improved customer perceptions of value, quality, and style. What is particularly impressive is that over 80% of M&S’s clothing has sold at full price – which is much higher than most of its rivals. Profitability dipped slightly in the first half – due to investment in digital platforms but this is positioning the company more resilient for future growth.

Loser: Boohoo 

Key customer metrics and profits have been trending in the wrong direction at Boohoo and although there is a plan in place aimed at turning things around, big challenges lie ahead in 2025. The situation has prompted major shareholder Mike’s Ashley’s Frasers Group to try and gain two board seats at the company. Boohoo’s board has already rebuffed attempts to install Mike Ashley as CEO. They are instead counting on Dan Finley, with his successful track record at Boohoo’s Debenhams online business, to turn the company’s fortunes around.

Kate Calvert

Head of retail and consumer research, Investec

Winner: Watches of Switzerland

After a more difficult 2024, Watches is well positioned to take advantage of a market recovery in 2025. Brands are back launching more appealing mid-priced range and watches has a number of exciting new projects opening, including the long awaited Rolex flagship on Bond Street. In addition, we expect strong growth to come through in pre-owned and luxury jewellery.

Loser: Boohoo

Boohoo’s underperformance has caught the attention of Frasers Group. We expect 2025 to be another challenging year for the group and are concerned about the general health of a number of Boohoo’s brands given the inroads Shein and others are making into its territory. Turnaround stories are rarely straightforward, take time and are not without risk.

Catherine Shuttleworth

Savvy Marketing CEO

Winner: Primark

Under the smart leadership of Paul Marchant the Primark business continues to grow internationally through a strong strategy and comprehensive roll out programme. In the UK their growth continues with customer appetite for their offer resilient. In high streets across the UK where other retailers have long deserted shoppers Primark continues to surprise and delight.

Loser: Boohoo

Internal wrangling and debt repayments aside, the group is struggling to connect its brands with shoppers. As the original shoppers grow up they aren’t being replaced by the next generation of shoppers and they seem to have lost their ability to connect with them.

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The Centre for Retail Research warned “worse is yet to come” after it reported that 13,479 stores closed their doors for the final time in 2024, a 28% increase on 2023, The Telegraph reported.

It forecasts that store closures will rise 30% rise to 17,350 over the next 12 months.

Of the closures, around 14,660 are expected to be independent retailers – nearly double the 7,793 that closed last year.

Centre for Retail Research’s Joshua Bamfield said: “Whilst 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.”

According the British Retail Consortium, the retail sector is facing an additional £70bn added to its tax bill through changes to National Insurance, business rates, National Living Wage increase and new levies on packaging come April 1.

Real estate firm Altus Group forecast the rates bill for the average shop will more than double from £3,589 to £8,613 for the new year.

A spokesman for the Treasury told The Telegraph: “We delivered a once-in-a-parliament Budget to wipe the slate clean and deliver the stability businesses so desperately need.

“Without our action, business rates relief for retail, hospitality and leisure would have ended in April this year.

“Instead, we are extending 40% relief for 250,000 properties and introducing a new permanently lower business rate in 2026, while more than half of employers will either see a cut or no change in their National Insurance bills.”

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This uptick was driven by a boost in shopping centre traffic, which surged 13.2%, retail parks with a 5.7% increase, and high streets which saw a 4.8% rise in the five weeks to 28 December, MRI Software said.

The strong performance comes as shoppers flocked to stores for last-minute Christmas shopping, taking advantage of festive events and attractions.

Retail parks and high streets, in particular, benefitted from increased leisure and hospitality offerings, drawing in consumers seeking a more experiential shopping experience during the holiday season.

However, despite the positive numbers, retail experts are bracing for a more challenging start to 2025.

MRI Software marketing & insights director Jenni Matthews warned that “the surge in festive footfall may well be the last big splurge for many consumers ahead of what could be a spending freeze heading into early 2025”.

Footfall data also showed a notable shift in consumer behavior, with a 1.6% rise in visits during the evening and night-time period across all retail destinations.

This trend points to the growing role of leisure and entertainment in driving retail traffic, as more shopping centres and retail parks diversify to meet evolving consumer demands.

Matthews added: “Retail parks and shopping centres have invested in more leisure and hospitality amenities to provide consumers with that experiential element, and one which caters for the entire family.

“High streets have continued to invest in festive markets and events to attract visitors during a period when the weather can be temperamental and travel disruptions are frequent which can sometimes deter people from towns and cities.”

While the days surrounding Christmas Eve saw footfall jump, the post-Christmas period showed a decline, particularly on Boxing Day, when footfall dropped by 4.9% compared to last year.

However, a rebound occurred in the final days of December, with footfall rising by 8.8% between December 27 and 28, fuelled by a 13.2% increase in high street activity.

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Footfall across all UK retail destinations was up 14.2% on 27 December compared to last year, driven by a 20.2% surge in shoppers on high streets, according to data from MRI Software.

Shopping Centres enjoyed a 12.7% rise in footfall, while retail parks saw a modest 2.7% increase.

The surge in shoppers come as footfall on Boxing Day (26 December) fell 7.6% as many retailers, including John Lewis, M&S and Next remained closed.

MRI Software marketing and insights director Jenni Matthews said: “Retail park footfall was 6% higher compared to 2019 up until 12pm, and then fell to -6.2% for the entire day, suggesting shopper habits have changed since pre-pandemic times and they are more likely to browse the Boxing Day bargains and restock on groceries ahead of visiting towns and cities to make the most of festive markets which will only be around for a few more days.

“It’s also a nod to the vast investments that have been made in retail parks over the last five years and how much they have diversified to become an all-encompassing retail and leisure hub for consumers.

“Following a subdued start to the Boxing Day sales, this uplift is promising for retail stores and destinations. It’s expected that footfall will continue to rise as we head into the weekend as consumers continue to restock on groceries, prepare for New Year’s celebrations, and hunt for Boxing Day bargains.”

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Data from the Centre of Retail Research found that a total of 169,395 retail jobs have been lost so far this year – a 42% jump on 2023 levels.

It is the highest annual figure since 2020 when more than 200,000 jobs were lost as retailers were forced to shut their stores during the Covid lockdowns.

The report noted 38 big retailers went into administration in 2024, including Carpetright, Homebase, Ted Baker and The Body Shop.

Administrations accounted for about a third of all job losses, amounting to 55,914 in total, with the rest axed through cost-cutting programmes or store closures from independent businesses.

Centre for Retail Research director professor Joshua Bamfield said: “The comparatively low [job loss] figures for 2023 now look like an anomaly, a pause for breath by many retailers after lockdowns if you like.

“The problems of changed customer shopping habits, inflation, rising energy costs, rents and business rates have continued and forced many retailers to cut back even more strongly in 2024.”

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The business has sounded out banks for a possible listing in 2025, which would result in a significant payday for the billionaire brothers and their private equity partner TDR Capital, The Telegraph reported.

It is thought that EG Group is leaning heavily towards a listing in the US – which is the company’s biggest market – despite the Issa brothers’ roots in Blackburn.

However, it is understood that any prospective float is still in its early stages and no final decision has been made.

The move could land EG Group an estimated valuation of around £11.4bn – 13 times last year’s underlying earnings of $1.1bn.

The business has gone on a debt-fuelled expansion in recent years, which has seen it strike a $2.2bn deal to acquire 800 convenience stores from retail giant Kroger in America.

The forecourt giant sold the bulk of its British facilities to in October last year for £2bn to Asda, the supermarket chain the brothers owned alongside TDR.

Zuber Issa sold his 22.5% stake in Asda in June and used the proceeds to buy out EG’s remaining UK locations and launch a rival business, EG on The Move. He retains his shareholding in EG Group.

EG Group declined to comment.

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At its peak, it was the clear greetings card market leader with over 1,000 stores and a presence in almost every major British town, but an influx of internet rivals alongside the growing popularity of Card Factory’s value offer resulted in the retailer losing its grip on the industry.

Clintons may be battered and bruised but the cards retailer refuses to fold, despite two administrations in the 2010s and mass store closures. However, new owner Cardzone admits it faces a challenge to get it back on track.

“We weren’t optimistic as to what we would find or the condition the business would be in, but we underestimated the task to turn it around,” admits Cardzone trading director James Taylor.

However, he and Cardzone know how to navigate the UK greetings market. He works under his dad Paul Taylor, who opened the first Cardzone in 2005. It’s a true family affair as his sister Alex looks after the marketing.

The family business has around 175 stores across the UK, the bulk of which trade as Cardzone shops, however, it also operates Hallmark, Yankee Candle, Mooch, Paper Kisses and Card Centre.

James Taylor explains the business’ growth – which reported a 28% surge in pre-tax profit to £6.48m last year against sales of £51.9m –  has come mostly through acquisitions, with Cardzone acquiring the outlet business to most of its sister brands gradually over the years including Yankee Candle’s outlet business in 2020.

He says that buying Clintons seemed the next logical step.

“It was the biggest opportunity that was ever available to us over the years to really grow at a significant level and take on some really good stores,” explains Taylor, sharing that the business came close to securing a deal for the high street chain back in 2019 before the pandemic hit.

However, the family’s ties with Clintons runs a lot deeper.

Dad Paul sold his first greetings card retailer, an eight store chain The Greeting Card Group, to a venture capital-backed business before it was sold on to Clintons in the late ’90s.

“It’s quite fitting that coming up to our 20th anniversary, we’ve managed to do this acquisition of a very different Clintons, I might say, to what it was,” says Taylor.

The deal has seen the group’s store estate and turnover “effectively double”, which Taylor admits comes with a new challenges for the business.

“We’re going to need to strengthen our management team a bit, which is something that we’ve been working on, but it’s going to pose a different challenge for us, because we have been able to really micromanage effectively the business [until now].”

For now, Taylor says the two brands will sit alongside each other with the pair competing in very few locations.

Along with the differing locations, Taylor says the big difference between the two chains is the size of store, with the typical Clintons shop almost double the size of Cardzone at around 2,300 sq ft.

He adds that the product mix is also distinct, with Cardzone selling more gifting than Clintons.

‘A lot to sort out’

Taylor is cautious over celebrating its new acquisition yet.

“Until we’ve got it performing, we almost don’t want to celebrate because there’s a lot of work cut out and a lot to sort,” he says. “It’s in a worse position than what we’d anticipated.”

“One thing I can say is that we’re very confident that we can turn this around, but it needs to be run quite differently to how Clintons was running the business.”

The retailer’s troubles on the high street has been widely reported. It’s aggressive growth strategy in the 1990s saw the retailer grow from around 270 stores nationwide to over 670 in the space of four years.

Then in 2004 it snapped up rival chain Birthdays – which operated 500 stores, discount business Cards Direct, and a string of Partyland franchise outlets – for £46.4m in a deal which expanded the Clintons portfolio to around 1,250.

The retailer found itself grappling with an over-inflated rent bill and increasing competition from Card Factory and the supermarkets, which forced it to call in its first set of administrators in May 2012. It was sold a few weeks later to a subsidiary of US card maker American Greetings in a rescue deal that saved 434 out of its 784 stores. Its Birthdays business was not included in the sale.

The high street chain faced collapse once more in 2019 – blaming business rates and weak consumer demand – after it failed to gain support from its landlords for a CVA. It was bought back by American Greetings in a pre-pack deal that safeguarded 2,500 jobs and 332 stores.

However, there was no return to form as Clintons hired restructuring advisers last year after racking up £5.4m in pre-tax losses as sales plunged 25% to £96.5m in the year to 27 May 2023.

Its store estate has shrunk from 232 to 160 stores nationwide as of June this year, as its previous owners sought to focus on profitable stores.

“It’s fair to say the business has struggled,” says Taylor. “Going from 1,000 stores and the processes, policies and procedures in a business of that scale, compared to one like this now – they’re very different things. I think it’s struggled as it’s downsized over the years.”

Despite that, he believes there’s still great value in the brand. “Clintons is a household name, isn’t it? People know Clintons and it’s been around for a very long time.”

Familiar with operating a greetings card business on a smaller scale, the Taylors are keen to apply their expertise to Clintons.

“Cardzone being an owner-led business, we’re very mindful and controlling of cost base,” says Taylor. “There are a lot of different products and services that Clintons over the years signed up for [such as] different facilities and financial systems.

“We’re quite simple, we keep things very basic, and that model has worked and it means that you can trade robustly on a high street that is difficult – it has its highs and lows.

“We’re an incredibly seasonal business like many retailers are, but being a greeting card specialist, without Christmas, we wouldn’t have a business it’s as simple as that.

“You have to be able to run a business all year round and you have to control your costs extremely well in the quiet times,” he says.

Taylor is anticipating a “challenging” golden quarter for Clintons as Cardzone honours the 2024 Christmas orders the high street chain placed before the acquisition.

With a difficult key trading period ahead, Taylor does not expect the high street chain to turn a profit until “post Christmas 2025 when hopefully we’ll have really traded well across that full year”.

What next?

Taylor admits that the family hasn’t fully decided on the finer details of its plan for Clintons, sharing that most of his time has been spent on trying to get the high street chain back on track.

“We don’t actually know exactly what direction we’re going to take some of these things in,” he admits.

“It’s hard to say because we’ve got so much to sort out within the business and that change is going on right now. At the moment, you’ve got two sets of everything and that model won’t work long term so we are making some changes in that way.”

He says that is “going to mean some pain this year” with its brand strategy and growth plan coming into force from 2025 onwards.

That pain may include some more Clintons store closures in the coming months, on top of the existing foreclosures of branches that were not included in the sale, “whilst we get the ship turned around”.

“The problem is that some of the Clinton stores are way too big for modern times on the high street so it’s downsizing and finding something more suitable.”

However, Taylor is cautious of how discussions with landlords will go “because of how the business was run previously”.

Rightsizing the store portfolio is only half of the problem.

“The Clintons stores aren’t the most easily shoppable and they can be quite claustrophobic,” says Taylor.

“We want to try and open things up a bit, showcase the high proportion of cards as we know that most customers come in for that. Then from a gift in perspective, we use quite low circular tables in Cardzone and that works effectively.”

“We see the most opportunity to grow sales on the gifting,” says Taylor, explaining that the business has introduced more giftable products to widen its appeal to shoppers.

Clintons has been seen as a more premium card shop on the high street when compared with Card Factory and Cardzone itself, but Taylor admits it will introduce more offers in store to align with Cardzone, which is “quite promotional driven because customers like a bargain”.

Clintons 3.0

Once Clintons is profitable again, Taylor says the team can begin to look at “the exciting stuff” such as launching “the future look of Clintons”.

“We want to have a concept that definitely holds on to the traditional key factors of Clintons but also introduces some newness and giftware and different ways of displaying products.”

He predicts this will likely start rolling out “either later this year or 2025”.

This will be the second brand refresh for Clintons, as its previous owner ditched the chain’s well-known orange branding in favour of its current red logo back in 2012 after it bought the brand out of administration – although Taylor hinted that it will stick with red.

He is also considering rebranding some of the existing Cardzone stores as Clintons once the rebrand is complete “because we know that the Clintons name does hold a lot of value”.

Part of the “big brand refresh” will also include opening more shops “because that’s what the high street needs”, he says.

Both him and his sister Alex are passionate about the role of card shops on the high street.

“People will go to supermarkets [for their cards] because they’re convenient, but if you’re on a high street, people will make that journey to go visit their favourite brands and see what’s new,” she says.

“The UK population loves buying and sending cards and people are living longer,” he adds. “There’s a larger elderly population out there, and they are predominantly our typical customer -, middle aged, female.”

Taylor suggests that previous owners have made “mistakes trying to revolutionise the brand” in launching new products and add-ons to reach a new consumer, all while forgetting about its core customers – the middle-aged female.

Keeping in line with its self-proclaimed simpler operations, his sister Alex says it is unlikely that Clintons will relaunch its online shop anytime soon.

“We’ve got enough on our plate looking at the physical stores but it could be something that we’re looking to in the future. We just need to get all of the physical stores into a really good place [first],” she says.

“The growth in online in my opinion, and from looking at Moonpig and Funky Pigeon, is all around personalisation. That would be a completely new remit for us because we’re very much traditional cards.”

It’s a model that has served well for the rest of the Cardzone business, which has focused on building a reputation within the local community instead of on national scale. Perhaps a dose of family values could be just what Clintons needs to get back on its feet.

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According to restructuring specialist Begbies Traynor, there were 2,124 retail businesses in “critical financial distress” in the first 11 weeks of the October to December quarter.

This is a 25% jump from the 1696 in the period to July to September, but was down slightly on the 2,142 recorded in the last quarter of 2023, The Guardian reported.

Begbies attributed the sharp quarter-on-quarter increase to rising operational costs and subdued consumer confidence.

It comes as more than 28,000 UK retailers are facing “significant” financial distress at the end of 2024, with the general retail sector under the most pressure.

Partner Julie Palmer said: “The weaker-than-expected retail sales performance in November, traditionally a critical month for the sector, further underscores the tough trading conditions, as consumers hold off on purchases amid low confidence and rising prices.

“Adding to this uncertainty, the measures announced in the Autumn Budget, including the planned increase to employers’ National Insurance Contributions, will significantly dial-up the challenges faced by these businesses.

“These changes, alongside increases to the Minimum Wage, will negatively impact cash flow and, consequently, we expect elevated insolvency levels across this sector during 2025.

“Even for more resilient businesses, the pressures remain relentless, and many will likely face financial challenges next year as they navigate these compounded difficulties.”

Homebase became the latest retail casualty last month, when it’s brand and up to 70 of its stores was snapped up by The Range owner CDS Superstores in a pre-pack deal.

CDS confirmed the first three of the DIY chain’s former stores will open next month (January 17) under its The Range banner and will house ‘Garden Centres by Homebase’.

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Overall footfall was down 7.6% compared to last year, while high street footfall slumped 9.6%, according to data from MRI Software.

Shopper numbers across retail parks slipped 6.1%, and was down 5.1% across shopping centres by 8pm compared to 26 December 2023.

The fall comes as some retailers such as M&S and Next chose to keep their stores closed during the bank holiday this year.

John Lewis also shut its standalone stores on Boxing Day, with only its Trafford and Stratford shopping centre shops remaining open.

Coastal towns experienced the biggest decline, with footfall slumping 20%. Meanwhile, it dipped 7.6% across central London and 2.2% in market towns.

MRI Software analyst Jenni Matthews said: “The growing presence of online shopping continues to reshape spending habits.

“Many retailers kicked off their Boxing Day sales online [on Christmas Day], providing shoppers with the opportunity to grab early bargains from the comfort of their own home.”

She added: “This is further supported by MRI Software’s consumer pulse report, which identified that 53% of shoppers planned to complete at least half of their Christmas shopping online; a trend which may well continue into the period between Christmas and [the] new year.”

The software company analyst noted footfall was forecast to increase again on 27 December as more stores reopened.

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