Retail failures in Yorkshire down 29% as High Street continues to evolve

The amount of retailers in Yorkshire entering administration fell by 29% last year, while the total number of administrations in the region dropped by 19% in 2015, according to analysis from Deloitte.

Ten Yorkshire-based retailers went into administration in 2015, compared to 14 the previous year. The number of administrations in the region across all sectors fell from 172 to 139.

Yorkshire saw a bigger fall in company administrations than any other English region.

The manufacturing sector in the region saw the biggest drop, with a 38% year-on-year fall in administrations, from 47 to 29.

Nationally, the number of retailers in administration fell from 119 in 2014 to 96 during 2015, a decrease of 19%. Across all sectors in England, the figure fell from 1,302 in 2014 to 1,147 companies last year, a 12% decrease.

Dan Butters, restructuring services partner at Deloitte in Yorkshire, said: “We seem to have avoided what was once a traditional New Year clear-out of the High Street, with only Brantano and Blue Inc calling in the administrators this month.

“Although the clothing sector was heavily impacted by unseasonably warm weather, the value of December’s online sales figures was well ahead of expectations.

“The annual data reminds us that administration is being used less and less as a restructuring tool, especially by the medium and larger players in the retail sector. Solvent restructuring practices are more common due to the current availability of funding and a pattern is emerging whereby we are working with companies on restructuring and refinancing.”

Only two out of the 11 sectors in the Deloitte report saw an increase in administrations – Mining, Energy & Agriculture with a 12% increase and Transport & Communication with a 5% increase. Meanwhile the Technology and Media sector saw the biggest drop in administrations: down 40% from 90 to 54.

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