Retail is currently in more distress over debt levels and the risk of insolvency than any other sector in the UK, research has found.
Nearly half (41%) of retailers are more likely to be concerned about their debt levels than any other sector, according to research conducted by the Insolvency trade body R3.
The research has also found that 58% of retailers are experiencing falling profits and 8% consider themselves very likely to enter insolvency in the next year, compared with a cross-sector average of 2%.
A quarter of all retailers, meanwhile, are experiencing difficulties with cash flow and 48% have suffered a fall in sales volume.
Despite the alarming outlook, R3’s research also reveals that redundancies are currently below average in retail, totalling 8% compared to a nationwide average of 13% across all UK industry sectors.