High street shops staying closed in Sheffield – despite being allowed to reopen from April 12

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has announced that non-essential shops will be allowed to re-open on April 12 as part of the ‘roadmap’ out of lockdown.

This includes retail outlets on Sheffield high street and Meadowhall, such as Primark, H&M and Zara.

Restrictions will still be in place across the stores, including wearing a mask, and socially distancing from other customers.

However, due to the pandemic, and constant enforced closure of stores across the city, shuttered or closed high street shops are becoming more and more common.

A study in 2020 showed that Sheffield city centre is in the ‘top declining high streets’ in the UK due to Covid, and some of its biggest stores will not be able to welcome you back in April, with hundreds of job losses.

What will not be opening in Sheffield?

242-year-old chain Debenhams announced that it will be closing both its Sheffield city centre and Meadowhall stores.

Online retail company Boohoo bought the Debenhams brand and website for £55 million in January, but it will not take any of the firm's remaining 118 high street stores or its workforce, with more than 100 jobs lost in Sheffield.

Due to the collapse of the Arcadia Group, a number of menswear and womenswear stores have already closed on the high street and in Meadowhall.

This includes Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge, Wallis and Burton, all staples in Sheffield – and an emotional member of staff from the Meadowhall Topshop shared pictures of the now-empty unit.

Dorothy Perkins on the Moor has also been forced to close, with the executives citing Coronavirus as a reason.

Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said: “With a second wave of the pandemic underway we have seen a record increase in the number of shuttered shops.

"Shopping centres fared the worst among retail sites due to the higher proportion of fashion outlets, where consumer demand has been hit hardest.

"The uncertain climate has also meant that even those looking to expand are holding off making investments in new stores. As a result, we expect to see the retail vacancy rate continue to rise."