Major charity shop chain Scope has closed three of its high street stores this month – and more are set to follow. The charity’s shop in Newport, Wales, shut on April 5, while a Southampton store and Atherstone branch closed on April 11 and April 12, respectively.
Scope – which is one of the largest disability charities in England and Wales – warned back in January that it could close a number of its 138 high street stores due to rising costs and declining footfalls.
Charity shops are retail outlets selling mainly donated goods to raise funds for their parent charities and they have been a staple of the British high street for decades.
Most charity shops have a paid shop manager, working with a team of volunteers who help to sort and sell stock. Although, some charity shops are entirely run by volunteers.
WHATSAPP GROUP: Get money news and top deals straight to your phone by joining our Money WhatsApp group here. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
NEWSLETTER: Or sign up to the Mirror’s Money newsletter here for all the best advice and shopping deals straight to your inbox.
At the time of the announcement, Scope’s chief executive Mark Hodgkinson said external factors had “made trading harder”, particularly noting rising rents, higher energy costs, increased staff costs and the cost of living impacting customer’s spending habits. The charity is in consultation until March after facing a £1.5million loss this financial year.
He said: “As a result, and to ensure our funds are best focused upon our charitable purpose, we have let our teams know that we will be putting forward proposals to close some of our shops, in stages, over the next 18 months.”
A further 43 Scope stores are set to close between now and March 31, 2026, while a further four will shut in the 2026/27 financial year. The final phase of five more shops would shut when their leases come up for renewal or when there is a break. This is in addition to 24 sites which have ceased trading since the start of the year.
For all you savvy savers and bargain hunters out there, there’s a golden opportunity to stretch your pounds further. The Money Saving Club newsletter, a favourite among thousands who thrive on catching the best deals, is stepping up its game.
Simply follow the link and select one or more of the following topics to get all the latest deals and advice on: Travel; Property; Pets, family and home; Personal finance; Shopping and discounts; Utilities.
During the consultation period, six Scope charity shops closed their doors, and by the end of March, 18 more were shut. These are the 18 shops that ceased trading before March 31:
These are the six shops that closed during the consultation period:
Of the remaining 47 branches to close, Scope has said five will shut in May, but has not revealed the locations. The locations for the remaining 42 stores earmarked for closure are also yet to be revealed.
Debbie Boylen, head of retail at Scope, said: “Our shops have helped us raise vital income to support our work with disabled people and their families.
“We know our teams put in their very best efforts, but our shops are collectively now losing money when taking account of all of their costs. A number make strong profits but there are loss making shops too. We never take the decision to close our stores lightly.”
She added: “We know they (staff) feel passionately about playing their part in our work, creating an equal future with disabled people. We will be doing everything we can to support them and our decision does not reflect their hard work and dedication to Scope.”
From universal credit to furlough, employment rights, travel updates and emergency financial aid – we’ve got all of the big financial stories you need to know about right now.
Sign up to our Mirror Money newsletter here.
At Reach and across our entities we and our partners use information collected through cookies and other identifiers from your device to improve experience on our site, analyse how it is used and to show personalised advertising. You can opt out of the sale or sharing of your data, at any time clicking the “Do Not Sell or Share my Data” button at the bottom of the webpage. Please note that your preferences are browser specific. Use of our website and any of our services represents your acceptance of the use of cookies and consent to the practices described in our Privacy Notice and Cookie Notice.
