As the high street reopens, thousands of once-flourishing businesses remain shuttered. From huge department stores to tiny independents, they will be missed
The reopening of England’s shops and restaurants brought that Christmas-morning flutter of anticipation, even though my plans this week are no more ambitious than poking round a charity shop or three. But as the high street reopens, the gaps will become as glaringly apparent as missing teeth. UK chains lost more than 17,500 outlets over 2020, some of which were far more than just a convenient place to buy towels and toasters. The outpouring of sadness at the closure of Cole Brothers in Sheffield was a reminder of the way these places mark some of our most memorable moments: first homes, special birthdays, school shoes and funeral suits.
Independents have gone under, too: a yarn shop here, a cafe there, individual hopes and savings poured into businesses too fragile to survive a year’s disruption. But I surprised myself most at the grief I felt on hearing that the smallest outpost of the superlative Bettys tearoom empire would not reopen its cafe here in York, defeated by a combination of economics and logistics.
