In the United Kingdom, the term “high street” refers to the main shopping and commercial thoroughfare in a given city.
More specific than the American term “Main Street,” “high street stores” are national brands that are household names within the country and can be found in any British city.
Some examples of “high street brands” in the U.K. include Marks and Spencer, Next, John Lewis, Jigsaw, and Reiss.
Cancer Research UK closing 190 stores across country by April 2027
Founded in 2002 as a charity through the merger of the older The Cancer Research Campaign and the Imperial Cancer Research Fund, Cancer Research UK is a chain of charity shops selling pre-owned clothing, books, technology, and other specialty items to raise money for cancer research.
For the 2025-2026 fiscal year, Cancer Research UK reported raising £696 million (approximately $941 million USD), the majority from donations and £140 million from various trading activities.
As the agency first shared last year and is now implementing, Cancer Research UK is set to close, by April 2027, two of three major warehouses in the London and Liverpool suburbs of Fleet and Warrington. It will also shutter 190 of the stores where pre-owned items are sold for charity, The Sun reported.
While the organization at its peak had more than 500 operating stores across the U.K., only 390 are expected to remain open following the closures.
According to a statement from Cancer Research UK cited by The Sun, the closures are part of the charity’s aims to restructure its business and pivot its primary focus toward research.
“Without action, many of our shops will become unprofitable”
“This provision includes £5.6 million in respect of retail shops that are planned to close, as well as the closure of the warehouse that supported the sale of goods through online retail platforms,” Cancer Research UK wrote in its annual report.
“[…] The provision is expected to be utilised [British spelling] within the next one to two years, subject to negotiations with landlords.”
Cancer Research UK CEO Michelle Mitchell previously said that “without action, we predict many of our shops will become unprofitable.”
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The agency confirmed that it intends to continue expanding the larger superstores that it has been opening outside of major cities since 2021. There are currently 12 operating across the country.
The exact store locations set for closure have not yet been confirmed, but the shutdowns have been quietly rolling out throughout 2026 and will continue into 2027.
Other major British charity chains that were once a major high street presence, including Oxfam and the British Heart Foundation, have also been closing dozens of smaller locations across the country over the last two years, while prioritizing warehouses and larger, most profitable locations, The Guardian confirmed.