The high street is set for a battering in 2026
A new year is meant to be a time of renewed hopes, dreams and aspirations - wiping the slate clean.
However, for the UK high streets, it looks like in 2026 they'll be getting wiped clean too.
Of course the closing down and opening of stores is a regular occurrence, however, it's no secret that the increase in closures is a worrying trend for high streets everywhere.
Multiple large stores were either forced into administration or brushed with it in 2025, including the likes of Claire’s, Bodycare and Poundland.
Back in 2024, around 13,000 shut up shop permanently, while the Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year.
This would indicate a 33% increase.
A number of notable retailers have already confirmed closures for 2026, so here's a list of all the ones that are slated to shut down.
River Island
- Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire
- Bangor Bloomfield, Northern Ireland
- Barnstaple, Devon
- Beckton, Greater London
- Brighton, East Sussex
- Burton-upon-Trent, Derbyshire
- Cumbernauld, Scotland
- Didcot, Oxfordshire
- Edinburgh Princes Street, Scotland
- Falkirk, Scotland
- Gloucester, Gloucestershire
- Great Yarmouth
- Grimsby, Lincolnshire
- Hanley, Staffordshire
- Hartlepool, County Durham
- Hereford, Herefordshire
- Kilmarnock, Scotland
- Kirkcaldy, Scotland
- Leeds Birstall Park, West Yorkshire
- Lisburn, Northern Ireland
- Northwich, Cheshire
- Norwich, Norfolk
- Oxford, Oxfordshire
- Perth, Scotland
- Poole, Dorset
- Rochdale, Greater Manchester
- St Helens, Merseyside
- Surrey Quays, Greater London
- Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire
- Taunton, Somerset
- Workington, Cumbria
- Wrexham, Wales
Poundland
Poundland found themselves in trouble earlier this year, teetering on the edge of administration before being sold to Gordon Brothers for just £1.
A cash injection and restructuring has followed, with a number of stores being shut down, or set to be shut.
- Faversham, Kent
- Liverpool, Merseyside
- Yeovil, Somerset
- Nottingham Eastpoint, Nottinghamshire
- Lymington, Hampshire
- Christchurch (47 High Street), Dorset
- Bristol Avon Meads, Bristol
- Winton, Dorset
- Coatbridge, North Lanarkshire
- Bexhill, East Sussex
- Ponders End, Greater London
- Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire
- Mitcham, Greater London
- Cameron Toll, Edinburgh
Cancer Research
A full list of these stores set to close can be found at the bottom of this article.
Amazon Fresh
Amazon is set to shut up shop permanently at all 19 of its UK stores, all located in London but one, after only opening its first Amazon Fresh store in 2021.
The stores featured a system which allowed customers to simply pick what they wanted off the shelves and walk out the shop without using a till.
Shoppers would use an app to gain access to the store and were then billed on the platform after leaving with an array of cameras and technology used to determine what products had been purchased.
The company said that the move is part of its UK grocery operations, focusing more on the online side of the business.
High street banks
A number of high street bank branches are set to leave the high street in 2026 in a continuing trend away from the physical and onto the internet.
Lloyds Banking Group expect to close 49 branches in 2026 including 10 Halifax branches and 13 Bank of Scotland locations.
Lloyds Bank
- Gillingham (Dorset) – January 8
- Mitcham – January 8
- Totnes – January 8
- Bideford – January 13
- Fleet – January 13
- Chester-le-Street – January 14
- Ivybridge – January 14
- New Addington – January 14
- Ammanford – January 12
- Havant – January 19
- Lewes – January 19
- Southampton Totton – January 19
- Alfreton – January 19
- Stamford – January 20
- Swadlincote – January 20
- Penzance – January 21
- Petersfield – January 21
- Ryde – January 21
- Southampton Hedge End – January 21
- Deal – January 22
- Hedon – January 28
- Okehampton – March 25
- Camborne – October 7
- Chepstow – October 7
- Harborne – October 8
- Gorseinon – October 12
Halifax
- Middleton – January 8
- Yeovil – January 12
- Havant – January 15
- Wandsworth – January 15
- Seaford – January 19
- Buxton – January 20
- Deal – January 22
- Hastings – January 22
- Skipton – January 26
- Camborne – October 7
Bank of Scotland
- Larkhall – January 8
- Bellshill – January 12
- Glasgow Anniesland – January 12
- Tain – January 12
- Erskine – January 13
- Gairloch – January 15
- Nairn – January 20
- St Andrews – January 20
- Castle Douglas – January 22
- Dingwall – March 25
- Largs – March 25
- Hawick – October 7
- Grangemouth – October 8
NatWest
While not technically 2026, NatWest are set to close six locations on 31 December 2025.
- Ashby-de-la-Zouch
- Cromer
- Evesham
- Launceston
- Portishead
- Torquay
The full list of Cancer Research locations shutting down
- Aberdeen – Scotland
- Airdrie – Scotland
- Clydebank – Scotland
- Coatbridge – Scotland
- Edinburgh – Scotland
- Falkirk – Scotland
- Galashiels – Scotland
- Glasgow – Scotland
- Perth – Scotland
- Ballymena – Northern Ireland
- Belfast – Northern Ireland
- Lisburn – Northern Ireland
- Merthyr Tydfil – Wales
- Swansea – Wales
- Balham – England
- Banbury – England
- Barnstaple – England
- Biggleswade – England
- Birkenhead – England
- Birmingham (Erdington) – England
- Bognor – England
- Bolton – England
- Bradford – England
- Burton‑on‑Trent – England
- Chesham – England
- Clevedon – England
- Cotteridge (Birmingham) – England
- Crewe – England
- Derby (Allenton) – England
- Dewsbury – England
- Dudley – England
- East Barnet – England
- Epping – England
- Fakenham – England
- Gillingham – England
- Gosport – England
- Gravesend – England
- Halesowen – England
- Harrogate – England
- Hazel Grove – England
- Hemel Hempstead – England
- High Wycombe – England
- Hornchurch – England
- Keswick – England
- King's Lynn – England
- Lancaster – England
- Leeds – England
- Lincoln – England
- Louth – England
- Ludlow – England
- Maidenhead – England
- Maidstone – England
- Market Drayton – England
- Melton Mowbray – England
- Mill Hill – England
- Moreton – England
- Newark – England
- Newcastle‑under‑Lyme – England
- Northwood – England
- Paddock Wood – England
- Penrith – England
- Redditch – England
- Redruth – England
- Retford – England
- Ross‑on‑Wye – England
- Rotherham – England
- Rushden – England
- Selby – England
- Sevenoaks – England
- Shrewsbury – England
- Sidmouth – England
- Skipton – England
- Slough – England
- Southend‑on‑Sea – England
- St Ives – England
- Stalybridge – England
- Stockport – England
- Stoke (Plymouth) – England
- Swindon – England
- Tiverton – England
- Urmston – England
- Welling – England
- Welwyn Garden City – England
- West Bromwich – England
- Whitby – England
- Wigston – England
- Workington – England
