As we approach May several high street shops and branches of major banks will be preparing to close for good.
Big names such as WHSmith, Morrisons, Poundland and NatWest are all losing outlets across the country.
The closures are due to various factors, but changing customer habits, in particular the rise in online shopping, played a big part, according to retailers.
It comes after 13,000 high street stores shut last year.
Here we take a look at which branches are closing in May and where.
WHSmith
Three stores will be shut down in May as the stationary retailer sells off all its high street branches to focus on shops in airports and train stations, which are more profitable.
The stores closing next month are:
- Oldham, Greater Manchester – May 3
- Stockton, County Durham – May 17
- West Mall, Frenchgate Centre, Doncaster – May 3
NatWest
In May, 21 NatWest branches are set to close, after the bank saw a 62% fall in over-the-counter transactions between 2019 and 2024.
The branches shutting next month are:
- Aintree Black Bull, May 14
- Allenton, May 13
- Basford, May 21
- Cannock, May 12
- Eanam, May 12
- Hollinwood, May 7
- Farnworth, May 15
- Goole, May 14
- Leyland, May 15
- Long Eaton, May 29
- Louth, May 28
- Morley, May 8
- Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, May 1
- Rawtenstall, May 29
- Sheffield, May 7
- Trafford Park, May 20
- Urmston, May 13
- Wallasey, May 21
- Widnes, May 8
- Wilmslow, May 20
- Windermere, May 1
Lloyds
Lloyds Banking Group announced the closure of 136 high street branches of Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland in January.
The group blamed the closures on customers moving from high street to online banking, and said at the time all workers at the affected branches would be offered jobs elsewhere in the company.
Many branches have since closed, with more shutting in the months ahead.
The outlets closing in May are:
- Beccles – May 6
- Fakenham – May 6
- Matlock – May 7
- Monmouth – May 8
- New Milton – May 13
Morrisons
The supermarket chain closed 16 stores earlier this month as part of a major shake up, and will shut one more next month.
The Haxby branch in Yorkshire will cease trading on May 14.
Morrison’s CEO Rami Baitiéh, said changes were needed to ‘renew and reinvigorate’ the chain, because running services were costing more than what was being made from customer spending.
Poundland
Two Poundland shops are pulling down the shutters for good in May.
A branch at Clapham Junction station in south London is closing on May 2, just three years after it opened.
And a store in St George’s Centre in Gravesend town centre, will shut on May 8.
Poundland previously told Metro: ‘Poundland operates from over 800 locations across the UK and Ireland and with so many outlets, it will be no surprise that we constantly review our store portfolio as leases expire or come up for renewal.’
A Poundland spokesperson added to The Sun: ‘We know how disappointing our closure at Clapham Junction will be to customers and we looking forward to welcoming them to our store nearby at the Southside shopping centre in Wandsworth.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.