Farm shops across the UK generate a massive £1.4 billion in sales nationally while employing 25,000 workers, the first substantial survey of its kind has shown.

The fresh findings were revealed today (2 March) by Harper Adams University at the annual Farm Retail Association Conference.

Researchers aimed to understand the impact farm shops have on communities, farmers and suppliers as well as the wider economy and the UK’s rural landscape.

The study found that there are an estimated 1,581 farm retailers nationally, employing 25,000 people, with sales totalling £1.4 billion.

Some 64% of farm shops expect sales to increase further in 2022 and a third of all farm shops have opened in the last 10 years.

Other findings showed that customers are attracted to shopping with farm retailers because of their quality of products, customer service and the farm setting.

Rishi Sunak is under increasing pressure from Conservative “red wall” MPs to go beyond existing support for the UK economy in Wednesday’s budget and cut taxes for thousands of retailers.

MPs across the political spectrum are increasingly uneasy that he may introduce income tax rises for middle earners, and the chancellor is facing calls from 45 northern Tories to make “a bold move to reduce business rates”.

The calls come as Sunak prepares for a major test on Wednesday as he seeks to find an extra £43bn to plug a hole in the UK’s post-pandemic finances while allowing the economy to recover from a third lengthy coronavirus lockdown.

A string of household names were lost this year as Covid accelerated changes to the high street

2020 was a punishing year for the high street, with 177,000 jobs lost as a string of household names succumbed to administration during Covid-19. The pandemic has accelerated the painful restructuring of an industry that is a big employer but where fewer physical stores are needed to serve shoppers in the internet age. Here are some of the biggest retail collapses throughout 2020.

Debenhams

1 December With no rescue deal agreed, the troubled chain started closing down sales in its 124 stores before Christmas, as it announced plans to liquidate. About 4,000 head office and store jobs have already gone as a result of its second administration in a year and its 12,000 remaining staff face an uncertain future.

Arcadia

30 November The collapse into administration of Sir Philip Green’s fashion group affected 13,000 jobs. The Arcadia brands, which include Topshop, Miss Selfridge and Dorothy Perkins, are being auctioned off. So far only the plus-size label Evans has changed hands but all its outlets are to close, meaning hundreds of job losses. Arcadia had already cut 500 head-office jobs in the summer of 2020.

Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group

The fashion group, with 21,500 staff, owned by the entrepreneur Philip Day, fell into financial crisis in the autumn. Its brands – Edinburgh Woollen Mill, Ponden Mill, Peacocks, Jaeger, Austin Reed and Jacques Vert – followed each other into administration and it has cut 860 jobs so far.

M&Co

5 August The Renfrewshire-based clothing retailer, formerly known as Mackays, was restructured via a pre-pack administration. The move resulted in the closure of 47 of 215 stores and 400 job losses.

Harveys

30 June The furniture chain went under, with the administrators announcing an initial wave of 240 redundancies among its workforce of 1,500.

TM Lewin

30 June The shirtmaker called in the administrators. It closed all 66 of its outlets permanently, with the loss of about 600 jobs.

Monsoon Accessorize

11 June The fashion brands were bought out of administration by their founder, Peter Simon, in a deal that resulted in the closure of 35 stores and 545 job losses.

Oasis and Warehouse

15 April All stores closed after the fashions brands went into administration, resulting in 1,800 job losses. The brands were subsequently sold to the online fashion group Boohoo.

Cath Kidston

21 April More than 900 jobs were cut at Cath Kidston’s retro retail label when a rescue deal brokered for the business closed all 60 of its UK stores.

Laura Ashley

17 March The chain went into administration, with 2,700 job losses, after rescue talks were scuppered by the pandemic. It was acquired by the Gordon Brothers investment firm and is set to make a return through a partnership with Next.

Local councils and retail giants will deploy a small army of “social distancing wardens” on Monday to police crowds as non-essential shops open their doors after almost three months of lockdown.

Councils across the country have hired or redeployed staff to ensure shoppers and retailers comply with social distancing rules. And big chain stores, including Primark, Ikea and John Lewis, have brought in extra security staff. 

The councils and retailers hope the wardens will prevent unruly queues as people rush back to clothes, homewares and electrical shops that have been closed since March. More than 1,000 people were reported to have queued outside Ikea warehouse stores, some turning up at 5.30am, when the Swedish chain was allowed to open two weeks ago. 

On 23 March, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said all non-essential travel and public gatherings had to stop, with people urged to leave home only for exercise, to shop for essential items, for medical care, or when their work could not be done at home.

1) People are largely keeping their distance

The aim has of the lockdown is to limit the spread of coronavirus, to help the NHS to cope and ultimately reduce the number of deaths from the disease.

The government says the number of new cases is stabilising and suggests there is evidence that the public’s adherence to the measures is starting to have an impact.

Sir Patrick Vallance, the government’s chief scientific adviser, said: “It’s not taking off in that sharp uptake, it’s not gone sky high. And if anything there might even be some flattening. That is because of what we’re all doing with social distancing.”

The way people are using the health service is also changing. In March, the number of people attending A&E dropped whilst the numbers of calls made to 111 – the NHS hotline – reached record highs.

2) Fewer journeys made

The public’s use of transport has fallen dramatically, although this trend started before the lockdown measures were announced, as many people started to work from home.

Overall transport use – road, rail and the Tube in London – fell by 60% between early February and the beginning of April, according to the Department for Transport.

3) Crime is down – but anti-social behaviour is up

In England and Wales, crime fell by 28% in the four weeks to 12 April, compared to the same time last year. Home burglary, for example, was down by more than a third, as people spent far more time indoors. However, incidents of anti-social behaviour rose by 59%.

Meanwhile, the National Domestic Abuse helpline has seen a 25% increase in calls since the lockdown, the charity Refuge says.

4) Shopping sales

In the week before the restrictions started, supermarket sales were 43% higher than the same time last year, as many rushed to stock up amid fear of shortages.

But average sales fell by 7.4% over the first fortnight of lockdown according to consultancy Neilsen.

“When the country was told not to travel people stopped shopping,” says Mike Watkins, Nielsen’s head of retailer and business insight. “They had already bought a lot of stuff, and their larders and freezers were full.”

However, supermarket sales were back up to almost 9% higher than average in the week ending 11 April – perhaps people had eaten all the extra food they had bought.

5) More demand for benefit

Close to one million people have applied for universal credit since the lockdown began. Of these, 473,000 applied in the first eight days, almost as many as applied during the whole of the preceding three weeks, and almost 10 times as many as would apply in an average week.

Universal credit is a consolidated monthly payment for those of working-age, replacing a host of previous benefits including income-based jobseeker’s allowance, housing benefit, child tax credit and working tax credit.

6) Better air quality

Air pollution levels in the UK have dropped significantly in the weeks since the country went into lockdown.

The level of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) has fallen across the UK, with the daily average down almost 40% on the same period last year.

The ACS’ 2020 Rural Shop Report outlines the crucial role that rural shops play in people’s daily lives as job creators, service providers and social hubs.

The report shows that the UK’s 16,986 rural shops continue to provide around 146,000 local, flexible and secure jobs. Almost a third of colleagues say they rely on the flexibility to fit their job around childcare commitments or caring for other family members, while jobs in rural shops also offer the security of the guaranteed hours and pay that does not come with gig economy jobs.

People in rural areas rated their local convenience store as their number one most essential service, the report reveals, in addition to the service that overall has the most positive impact on their local area. Rural shop customers are also more dependent on these stores because the nearest alternative is further afield than in urban areas.

ACS chief executive, James Lowman, said: “The UK’s rural shops provide a lifeline for hundreds of thousands of people, not just through the provision of everyday essentials and a range of services, but also by providing secure local jobs in otherwise isolated communities. They do all of this despite facing an uphill battle to gain access to decent broadband speeds and reliable mobile connectivity, and if they have a cash machine on the premises, to keep that machine free to use for customers. If this Government is committed to levelling up the UK economy, it must include plans to level the playing field for our rural shops.”

Visa has launched an industry-wide ‘access to cash’ scheme with its partner banks to encourage retailers to offer cashback.

The new initiative specifically targets areas in the UK where consumers currently struggle to access cash, such as remote and rural locations. Additionally, it will incentivise shops and businesses to offer cashback to consumers using their Visa debit cards.

Jeni Mundy, Visa Managing Director, UK & Ireland, said: “The popularity of digital payments continues to surge across the UK, however we know that cash still plays a vital part in the lives of many.

“This is why we want to help increase the number of options that people have to gain access to cash, helping to extend financial inclusion by enabling customers to choose how they pay – be that by cash, cards, mobile devices or other means. We also hope our scheme will encourage people in the target areas to visit their local shops at a challenging time for retailers.”

The scheme aims to increase the number of locations where cashback is offered. Cashback has been available in the UK since 1990, however, Visa has seen transaction volume declining in recent years.

A hardship charity once chaired by Charles Dickens has received a 30% increase in requests for help from struggling shop workers as the high street crisis bites.

The Fashion and Textile Children’s Trust steps in to assist children whose parents work in the fashion industry but are struggling to make ends meet. The surge in requests for its grants in 2019, included a “significant” increase in inquiries from people who were being made redundant from stores.

Anna Pangbourne, the director of the charity, said: “With retailers collapsing, many people have been made redundant, which is very raw for the families involved, particularly at this time of year.”

The charity offers grants to parents who cannot afford essentials for their children. In most cases, families need the cash to buy winter clothing and shoes or to replace broken appliances. It also extends grants to families coping with hardship after a redundancy.

The fashion chain Bonmarché has called in administrators, putting nearly 3,000 jobs at risk.

The Wakefield-based retailer, which sells fashion for women over 50 and has 318 shops, said it had got into difficulties after a “sustained period of challenging trading conditions and cashflow pressure”.

Administrators said they would continue to trade Bonmarché while assessing options for the future for the business. All stores remain open for the time being and no redundancies have been made.

Tony Wright, a joint administrator and partner at FRP Advisory who was appointed on Friday afternoon, said: “Bonmarché has been a staple on the UK high street for nearly three decades, but the persistent challenges facing retail have taken their toll and led to the administration.” He said he hoped to find a buyer for the business.

The ‘death of the high street’ may be overstated, with independent shops booming across the UK, says Which?

Despite a number of well known retailers disappearing from Britain’s High Streets in recent years, new research shows that they have been replaced by smaller businesses that have prospered.

The consumer champion analysed almost 1.5 million Ordnance Survey (OS) business records to compare Britain’s retail and services landscape from 2014 to 2019

The analysis suggests that concerns about the future of the high street may be overstated, and that instead, many high streets are beginning to move towards services that cannot be replicated online, with significant growth in cafés, tattoo parlours, hair and beauty services and function rooms.

Of the 10 sectors that have seen an increase in premises on UK high streets, six are categorised as ‘eating out and services’, with the biggest increase since 2014 seen in banqueting and function rooms (114 per cent).