Cancer Research UK will close almost 200 of its shops over the next 18 months, the charity has announced.
The charity announced today that it will reduce the size of its core chain to around 320 high street shops, with the closure of 90 stores by May 2026, followed by up to 100 more by April 2027.
It said it will select which shops to close by their financial contribution, lease terms and geographical spread.
The charity will also close its online marketplace in early 2026, meaning it will no longer sell donated items on reselling platforms.
However, Cancer Research UK plans to add to its 46 larger, out-of-town shops by opening another 12 “superstores” by 2028, which it said would meet increasing demand for spacious, value-focused shopping experiences.
The charity expects to see a £12.4m increase over the next five years in the financial contribution of its retail operations as a result of the changes.
Cancer Research UK said its decision came amid rising costs, inflationary pressures and shifting consumer habits, including the recent rise in employer national insurance contributions (NICs), a reduced footfall on the high street and increasing competition from online resale platforms.
600 employees affected
Cancer Research UK said it expects the changes to impact around 600 members of staff, and up to 3,000 volunteers, with some internal redeployment roles to be offered and help for those affected to find alternative employment or volunteering opportunities elsewhere.
The charity’s chief executive Michelle Mitchell said: “Without action, we predict many of our shops will become unprofitable.
“A smaller, high-performing retail operation will mean we’ll fund more life-saving cancer research and better serve our customers, staff and volunteers.
“This news will be difficult. Our decisions have been taken after serious consideration. We’re committed to supporting everyone affected by these changes, and will provide clear information and support throughout the process.”
Squeezed profit margins
Operating one of the largest charity shop chains in the country, Cancer Research UK has seen its retail profits dwindle in recent years.
In its accounts for the year to March 2025, the charity reported overall retail income of £120.8m but associated costs of £120.0m.
The year before, its retail operations generated £120m with costs of £116m.
Other large charity retailers have reported similar declines, with the British Heart Foundation also struggling to make a profit last year.
Meanwhile, Scope proposed closing most of its 138 shops earlier this year, after reporting a £1.5m retail loss.
Many retailers also highlighted cost pressures such as the NICs rise as key challenges they faced in the recently published Charity Shops Survey 2025.
Wider ‘shift’ in charity retail
Robin Osterley, chief executive of the Charity Retail Association (CRA) said closure announcements such as Cancer Research UK’s showed that “there is a shift going on”.
Retailers such as Scope, he said, were deciding to close loss-making stores and focusing their resources instead on “making the profitable shops even more profitable”.
While CRA’s members have seen their retail revenues increase year-on-year, Osterley said spiking staff costs following the NICs rise had squeezed profits.
“The NICs policy really hit our members hard, and primarily because of the change in the thresholds, because so many of our members use part-time workers that a lot of them were brought into the regime for the first time,” he told Civil Society.
On Cancer Research UK’s decision to close its online marketplace, Osterley said it was “not easy” for charities to make money selling items on the web, partly because they do not have “reliable stock coming through”.
He said that while many charity retailers have success selling specialist items online, “a lot of our members find it quite labour intensive and quite costly”.
