UK charity shop profits fall as secondhand clothing market shifts
Oxfam's retail profit reportedly fell 23% to £4.9m, and the British Heart Foundation plans to close 150 stores after a £3.3m retail loss.
What you need to know
The Guardian reports Oxfam's retail profit fell 23% to £4.9m in its latest financial year, while the British Heart Foundation plans to close 150 stores after a £3.3m retail loss, as charity shops face online resale competition, lower-quality donations and higher costs.
- Oxfam's retail profit reportedly fell 23% to £4.9m from £6.4m the previous year, according to unpublished accounts seen by the Financial Times.
- The British Heart Foundation plans to close 150 stores after a £3.3m retail loss in its last financial year.
- Oxfam filings show £6 of every £100 spent in its shops goes to its anti-poverty work, down from £22 in 2022.
- UK spending on secondhand clothing has risen to £8.8bn a year, according to GlobalData.
- Cancer Research UK and Scope have closed, or are closing, some shops.
Falling retail profits
The Guardian reports that Oxfam's retail profit fell 23% to £4.9m in its last financial year, down from £6.4m, citing unpublished accounts seen by the Financial Times. Its filings show that £6 of every £100 spent in its shops now funds its work on global poverty, compared with £22 in 2022. Oxfam said it has no plans to reduce its number of shops because of its focus on books and music.
The British Heart Foundation, which has the largest high street presence of any UK charity, plans to close 150 stores after they made a £3.3m loss in the last financial year. It aims to shut 90 stores by the end of March 2027 and another 60 by the following March, citing an exceptionally challenging trading environment. Cancer Research UK and Scope have also closed, or are closing, some shops.
Competition and costs
These losses come despite UK spending on secondhand clothing quadrupling over the past decade to £8.8bn a year, according to GlobalData. The rise of platforms such as Vinted and Depop may mean people who once donated clothes now sell them directly. Charity shops also face rents, collection and sorting costs, and increasingly poor-quality donations.
Robin Osterley of the Charity Retail Association disputed that online platforms are a significant problem, saying they normalise secondhand shopping and that resellers buy from charity shops. He instead pointed to national insurance changes in the November 2024 budget and inflation. Oxfam GB chief executive Richard Hawkes said the cost-of-living crisis had affected the sector but that growth in secondhand presents opportunities.
How much of each £100 spent in Oxfam shops now goes to its anti-poverty work?
Oxfam's latest filings show that £6 of every £100 spent in its shops now goes towards its work on alleviating global poverty, compared with £22 in 2022.
Sources & context
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