Fears that second Covid wave will be ‘knockout punch’ for high streets

A second wave of Covid-19 will be a “knockout punch” to Britain’s beleaguered high streets with one in 10 stores at risk of never re-opening. Some 12m square metres of floor space - equivalent to more than 400 shops the size of the flagship John Lewis department store on Oxford Street - will no longer be needed, according to property experts. The warning comes as Rishi Sunak came under attack from Labour for putting more than a million jobs at risk. Lamenting the creation of &l