A reported estimation of 72,000 stores will be closing this year equating to a shocking 200 a day. Shop vacancies are expected to increase from 63,000 this December to 135,000 by the end of the year and commercial premises charges will also decrease.

Small market towns are predicted to be amongst those hardest hit fuelling speculation of a potential "Ghost Town Britain" as many independent retailers will close their doors. These allarming statistics will result in as many as 135,000 shop workers joining the unemployment register. As Woolworths, one of the oldest multiples, after 99 years of trading contributed to a further loss of 27,000 jobs closed its final 807 stores yesterday. This week the Adams childrenswear retailer closed 111 stores creating 850 more job losses. The unemployment rate is set to soar beyond previous expectations and business analyst Experian have said this could be the tip of the iceberg. Even Marks and Spencer's are having to close 27 stores tallying up 12,000 more unemployment's and are set to shut another 25 Simply Food stores.

Alistair Darling warned the recession is "far from through" for Britain and repeatedly described the near future as "difficult". Official predictions stated that the UK should have made the half way mark by now with a brighter future to look forward to however the Chancellor has said these predictions were made based on the evidence available at the time and the reality is not so promising Gordon Brown is contemplating on resorting to printing more money to tackle the plummeting interest rates as base rates are expected to fall below the lowest rate since the Bank of England was founded in1694 to 1.5% or even lower. This could potentially resculpt the household economic foundations implemented by Thatcher to drive out inflation in the 80s and this policy has never even been practised in Britain or even considered and economists see this as a potentially dangerous move that could prolong the recession.