UK shop numbers on the decline

Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire/Press Association Images

Shop numbers have dropped for the first time in at least three years, according to new figures.

The number of retail outlets fell by 0.5% in the second quarter of 2012 compared with the same period last year, the first fall since the British Retail Consortium-Bond Pearce Retail Employment Monitor (REM) began in October 2008.