Almost 190,000 UK retail jobs lost since first Covid lockdown

Data reveals fallout from health crisis since March 2020, with many stores closing permanently

Almost 190,000 UK jobs have been lost in the embattled retail sector since shops were first forced to close a year ago.

The Centre for Retail Research revealed in exclusive data for the Press Association news agency that 188,685 retail jobs have gone between the start of the first lockdown on 23 March 2020 and 31 March this year.