Beales to close final store after 144 Years, citing Labour budget pressures

Beales, one of Britain’s oldest department store chains, is set to close the last store in its 144-year history, marking the end of an era for the once-prominent high street retailer. The company has launched a dramatic final clearance—dubbed internally the "Rachel Reeves closing down sale"—with discounts of up to 80 percent, blaming the Labour government's recent budget for hastening its demise.

The sole remaining Beales store, located in the Dolphin Centre in Poole, Dorset, will cease trading on 31 May. The closure follows years of decline for the department store sector, compounded by pandemic-era pressures and shifting consumer habits. However, Beales' management has laid particular blame on fiscal policy introduced in the latest Budget by Chancellor Rachel Reeves.

Chief executive Tony Brown said the business was already operating at break-even levels and had not paid dividends to shareholders. He claims recent policy changes—including a rise in the minimum wage, increased National Insurance contributions, and a reduction in business rates relief—pushed the store’s operating costs higher by approximately 200,000 pounds.

“These measures have fundamentally changed the economics of the business,” Mr Brown said in comments to the Bournemouth Echo. “We simply cannot absorb the cost pressures without a path to profitability.”

Founded in Bournemouth in 1881, Beales grew to a network of over 20 stores at its peak. The company entered administration in 2020 before being salvaged by Brown and a group of investors who kept a small number of stores operating. The closure of the Poole site signals the final chapter for the historic chain, whose rise and fall has mirrored the broader contraction of traditional department store retailing in the UK.

The Treasury has defended its budget measures as necessary to “restore economic stability and fairness,” but business groups have expressed concern over the cumulative burden on high street retailers, many of whom are still contending with lower footfall and higher operating costs.

Beales' exit underscores the fragile state of mid-market retail and the growing divergence between policy and profitability on the high street.