Vanishing jobs and empty offices plague Britain's retailers

A pedestrian wearing a face mask or covering due to the COVID-19 pandemic, walks past a sign in the window of a store alerting customers that the shop has closed-down, in London.

City centre shops and malls may have lost their lustre during the COVID-19 pandemic, but as lockdowns ease across Europe many stores in and around residential areas stand to benefit as consumers remain reluctant to venture far from home.

A pedestrian wearing a face mask or covering due to the COVID-19 pandemic, walks past a sign in the window of a store alerting customers that the shop has closed-down, in London. Britain's economy contracted by a record 20.4 percent in the second quarter with the country in lockdown over the novel coronavirus pandemic, official data showed . "It is clear that the UK is in the largest recession on record," the Office for National Statistics said. Britain officially entered recession in the second quarter after gross domestic product (GDP) contracted by 2.2 percent in the first three months of the year.

The retail industry has been open for almost two months in much of the U.K. following a lockdown imposed in March, following similar reopenings across the continent. But people in Britain seem to be venturing back out to stores, restaurants more slowly. Businesses that make up the backbone of the economy are struggling to navigate the next stage of the pandemic, based on interviews with people running supermarkets, restaurants, a hair salon and a clothing store.

The U.K. economy relies on consumer spending more than most other countries in Europe, accounting for 63% of output compared with around half in Germany and France. The retail industry has been open for almost two months in much of the U.K. following a lockdown imposed in March, following similar reopenings across the continent. But people in Britain seem to be venturing back out to stores, restaurants and bars more slowly.Above, pedestrians pass by a closed branch of Vision Express in Kensington.

Pedestrians pass closed retail stores on Commercial Street in London. The U.K. economy suffered more than any major European nation during the coronavirus lockdowns, piling pressure on the government to ensure the withdrawal of its support programs doesn’t derail the nascent recovery.

A pedestrian wearing a protective face mask passes a suit store advertising a 'stock clearance' in the City of London.

Closed shops in Croydon, Greater London. Business groups have urged the government to do more to support the economic recovery.

A woman looks at her phone as she walks past a closed branch of a shop in Kensington, London. The British economy is on course to record the deepest coronavirus-related slump among the world's seven leading industrial economies after official figures showed it shrinking by a 20.4% in the second quarter of 2020 alone said The Office for National Statistics.

People walk past empty commercial units to let and for sale in Chester, northwest England.

Closed New Look store in a shopping mall in Croydon, Greater London, U.K. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called on parents to send their children back to school next month after the summer holidays, which he views as a key step to helping the country and its economy recover from the coronavirus lockdown.

Many consumers have shifted to buying goods online, but they are also heading out to shops in residential areas and 46% of consumers across Europe aim to shop more locally in the long term than they did before the pandemic.

Pedestrians pass a Marks & Spencer Group Plc store in central .M&S plans to cut about 7,000 jobs after its clothing business was hit hard by the coronavirus lockdown, adding to the toll of lost employment in the U.K. retail industry.

Picture taken through the front window shows the interior of an empty closed down branch of STA Travel in central London on August 23, 2020. - Student travel firm STA Travel UK announced it had ceased trading on August 21, following the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on tourism.