UK high street: AI supercomputer predicts 9 retailer, shops and stores most at risk of administration in 2025
From rising online competition to shrinking stores, the high street faces fresh pressure in 2025 🏬
- I asked AI to analyse which UK high-street names are under the most pressure
- Its predictions were based on store closures, CVAs, administration filings, and profits
- The high-street landscape in 2025 is being shaped by competition and changing consumer habits
The UK high street has long been a landscape of rapid change, and iconic shops once seen on every corner have disappeared, leaving shoppers nostalgic for the brands they grew up with.
But could even more familiar names be on the brink of collapse before the end of 2025? I turned to ChatGPT to explore which shops, brands, and outlets might be most at risk, and the results are revealing.
Firstly, I gave the AI the following prompt: “Predict the UK high-street brands most likely to collapse in 2025. Search the web, and list the shops, banks, and restaurants etc that are most in danger of collapse before the end of the year. Use recent news stories as evidence of their potential demise. Do not simply speculate.”
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It began searching the web, and returned a list of brands showing signs of distress. It told me that it had considered “everything from shrinking store footprints to restructuring plans, declining profits, and the pressures of competition in both physical and online retail.”
To be clear, ChatGPT’s list does not mean these names will definitely disappear. Rather, it’s a prediction grounded in warning signs like “administration filings, confirmed store-closure lists, CVAs, liquidation and wind-down notices, and major market or earnings distress.”
Think of it as a snapshot of who’s wobbling most on Britain’s high streets as we move through 2025.
Claire’s
The fashion accessories chain, a staple of ear-piercing memories for teenagers, is in deep trouble. Administrators were appointed in August, putting more than 2,000 UK jobs at risk.
While buyers are reportedly circling, Claire’s is a textbook case of a brand once central to a retail culture that has struggled to reinvent itself in the age of online fast-fashion giants.
Bodycare
The health and beauty retailer collapsed into administration earlier this month, confirming 32 store closures and hundreds of job losses.
Administrators are seeking a buyer for the rest of the estate, but Bodycare’s fall highlights just how tough it has become to compete with the scale and pricing power of Boots, Superdrug, and the supermarkets.
READ MORE: Health and beauty chain Bodycare collapses into administration - full list of store closures
Poundland
Once the king of bargains, Poundland is feeling the squeeze. This year, new owners announced 68 closures and a restructuring designed to strip back underperforming sites.
Discount retail thrives in tough times, but Poundland’s bloated estate and increased competition from the likes of B&M and Home Bargains has made survival far trickier than expected.
River Island
River Island has opted for a major restructuring, shutting around 33 stores and putting more under review.
Court-approved restructuring plans often mean survival — but they can also be a halfway house to something more final if trading doesn’t improve. The brand has heritage on its side, but fashion is a brutal sector to turn around.
New Look
Few names have yo-yoed between revival and retreat as often as New Look. Its Irish business was liquidated earlier this year, while store closures continue across the UK.
The company has been through multiple CVAs over the past decade. What might save it? A slimmed-down estate and laser focus on its core customer — but time is running out.
Hobbycraft
Beloved by crafters and DIYers, Hobbycraft has quietly been shutting more shops, with nine further closures announced over the summer.
The chain has been trying to lean into workshops and online communities to survive, but repeat rounds of closures suggest its store footprint is too large for current demand.
Select Fashion
Select has been in and out of insolvency for years, but 2025 brought perhaps the final blow. Reports earlier this year suggested liquidation is underway, with staff left unpaid in some cases.
Select’s collapse reflects how hard it is for mid-tier fast fashion to exist between Shein’s ultra-cheap dominance and Zara’s trend-led allure.
Monki
Owned by H&M, Monki has been retreating from UK high streets in 2025, closing shops and refocusing its parent company’s resources.
While not a collapse in the traditional sense, the gradual disappearance of Monki stores means the brand could soon vanish from Britain altogether.
The Original Factory Shop
This discount department store chain has already gone through a CVA and been sold to private equity. Its head office has moved, and closures have followed.
Survival might depend on how well the new owners can streamline operations, but history shows CVAs are often a warning shot rather than a solution.
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