UK retail insolvencies surge amid tax burden and weak consumer confidence

The UK's retail sector is showing signs of distress, with company insolvencies in the trade rising sharply for the second consecutive month. According to figures released this week, retail trade insolvencies climbed to 192 in May 2025, a 16 percent increase from April’s 165 cases, and 20 percent higher than the 160 recorded in May 2024.

While some had anticipated a post-pandemic correction in the retail ecosystem, this latest data suggests a more structural reckoning is underway—one exacerbated by government fiscal tightening and shifting consumer behaviour.

Gordon Thomson, a restructuring partner at RSM UK, framed the uptick as a predictable consequence of the Chancellor’s recent tax hikes. “We’re starting to see the impact of the government’s new fiscal policies bite,” Thomson noted. “The increase in corporation tax, coupled with rising employer National Insurance contributions, is squeezing the viability of many retailers who were already operating on tight margins.”

This financial stress coincides with ongoing shifts in consumer priorities. Though broader indicators suggest that confidence is recovering modestly, spending remains cautious. High costs of living, particularly for essentials such as food and fuel, are eroding disposable income. For retailers dependent on discretionary purchases, fashion, interiors, and lifestyle, the short-term outlook is now clouded with uncertainty.

Untenable costs physical stores

The question now is whether the UK’s fiscal framework is inadvertently hastening the decline of its retail sector. Many in the industry are calling for a re-evaluation of business rates and the National Insurance threshold, policies which disproportionately affect brick-and-mortar operations. While online retailers often benefit from lower operational costs and broader reach, high-street stores remain tethered to fixed expenses that are becoming untenable.

Insolvencies, while headline-grabbing, are merely the symptom. At the core lies a deeper issue: the pace of change in consumer expectations is accelerating, while many legacy retailers have failed to keep up. A division is emerging between those who are agile, data-savvy, and digitally native, and those still structured around pre-digital retail models.

To survive, retail brands must now operate more like tech companies: leveraging analytics, optimising supply chains in real-time, and speaking fluently to consumers across digital channels. For fashion in particular, the opportunity lies in cultivating niche communities online, offering personalisation, and creating experiences that transcend the transactional.

The retail landscape has always evolved, but rarely has the transformation been so abrupt or unforgiving. If insolvencies continue their upward trajectory, May 2025 may well mark a tipping point, a moment when traditional British retail, hemmed in by policy and pressured by shifting demand, began to give way to a leaner, tech-driven new order.