MORE retailers in Warwickshire could close as unemployment rises and companies collapse.
The claim from Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce comes after insolvency experts said up to 15 big-name stores could go under nationally. Woolworths
stores in Warwick, Leamington and Kenilworth have already closed their
doors for the final time, and childrenswear chain Adams called in
administrators earlier this week, putting its Leamington branch under
threat. Retailers had said
seasonal takings were the worst for 30 years, despite 82 per cent of
shops holding panic sales in the week before Christmas. Alan
Durham, membership director at the chamber, said he expected more
redundancies throughout the economy and that the retail sector would
take a big hit. “People always spend more at Christmas but the real worry now is what will come after,” he said. “The
recession is hitting hard now because consumers either lacked
confidence or were deferring major purchases and waiting for discounts
further down the line. “These will definitely be tough times for retailers.” Mr
Durham said shoppers wanting to save money by cutting out trips to big
regional shopping centres could benefit small town stores. He also said
the outlook may be better for other areas of business away from retail. He said: “Debt collectors will be extremely busy and their services will be in big demand. “Manufacturing will be mixed, but for anyone related to the automotive supply chain things will be very tough. “Other
areas of industry will not be affected as much but we don’t believe
Warwickshire will be any better off than the national outlook, but
neither will it be any worse affected. Towns throughout the county will
all face the same issues.” The chamber has been running events and workshops, called Weathering the Storm, for local businesses. Mr
Durham added: “The message is very much ‘do your best to conserve cash,
get the money in as soon as you can and look for opportunities,’
because there will be some.” | 
Coventry News 
