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U.K. Retailers See $31 Billion Cost of Three Covid Lockdowns
- Ted Baker sales plunged over holiday season amid restrictions
- British Retail Consortium says 2020 was worst year on record
Boarded up stores on Oxford Street in central London, on Feb. 1.
Photographer: Jason Alden/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Britain’s three pandemic lockdowns have cost retailers that have been ordered to close about 22 billion pounds ($31 billion) in lost sales, according to a trade group.
In a sign of the mounting toll Covid-19 is taking on one of the country’s biggest employment sectors, the British Retail Consortium says 2020 was the worst year on record, with in-store non-food sales declining by 24%, compared with 2019.