A major charity shop chain on the UK high street has confirmed that it has closed 69 of its 138 shops and cut a considerable number of jobs in a desperate bid to tackle its growing deficit. Scope, a charity that provides support, campaigns and services to create a more equal future for disabled people, announced earlier this year that it would be shutting 77 shops – more than half its retail footprint – by March 2026, in a bid to save £4 million a year in running costs from 2025 to 2026.
As part of its corporate restructuring, the disability charity also confirmed that 54 out of 326 colleagues working in its corporate division had left the organisation, which it expects will save £1.9 million per year. “These changes will give Scope a retail estate that delivers reliable net income for the charity’s mission now and in the future,” it said. Scope’s annual accounts, published this week, showed that the charity recorded a 7% fall in income in the year ending March 2025, to £44 million. At the same time, its expenditure rose by 9% to £52.9 million during the year, resulting in a deficit of £8.9 million. According to Scope’s accounts, this was the charity’s sixth consecutive year recording an operating deficit.
Many locations have been closed because they were no longer financially viable, while others have been taken over by a Community Interest Company (CIC), A World UK, which has saved some jobs and kept the sites operational under a different name.
Scope is one of the UK’s most prominent disability equality charities. Founded in 1952, it has evolved from a small group of parents fighting for their children’s education into a national organisation focused on ending disability inequality. It was founded by three parents of children with cerebral palsy and a social worker. At the time, there were almost no educational or social services for children with the condition.
Their current strategy, “An Equal Future”, focuses on missions such as ending the “Disability Price Tag”. Scope highlights that life costs more if you are disabled, with an average of £1,095 extra per month in 2025.
While they are closing many physical shops, Scope continues to provide several critical services, including: a National Helpline which offers free, impartial advice on benefits, housing and social care and a specialist Disability Energy Support service to help with rising utility bills.
Mark Hodgkinson, chief executive of Scope, said the charity “needed to adapt to the additional pressures of a changing world”.
He said: “These decisions were not made lightly, and it is of course sad when colleagues leave us and shops close. But change was necessary in order to be in a much stronger position as a charity looking forward.”
He added that for 2025/26 so far, Scope’s net income was “ahead of budget”, adding that the charity had beaten its targets for supporter and fundraising net income: “In terms of operating profits, we’ve seen a positive turnaround, with ecommerce at £700,000 and our high-street shops at £840,000 in the current financial year so far.
“The decision to use some of our reserves to fund the operating loss and implement change enabled us to make this transition while still increasing charitable spend.
“Our retained reserves combined with the changes we’ve made over the past year mean that Scope is in a stable financial position to move forward with our mission to deliver an equal future with disabled people.”
- Alton
- Amersham
- Atherstone
- Bangor
- Barking
- Beckenham
- Beverley
- Bexhill
- Birkenhead
- Bishop Auckland
- Bishop’s Stortford
- Blyth
- Bridgwater
- Bromley
- Burton
- Bury
- Camborne (Taken over by A World UK)
- Castleford
- Devizes
- Dewsbury
- Eastbourne
- Erdington
- Exmouth
- Fleet
- Folkestone
- Gillingham (High Street)
- Gillingham (Twydall Green)
- Gosport
- Halstead (Taken over by Farleigh Hospice)
- Haywards Heath
- Hertford
- Hinckley (Taken over by A World UK)
- Hove
- Huntingdon
- Kendal (Taken over by A World UK)
- Lewisham
- Mitcham
- Morden
- New Milton
- Newmarket
- Newport
- Nuneaton (Taken over by A World UK)
- Orpington
- Parkstone
- Petersfield
- Portsmouth
- Portswood (Southampton)
- Rochdale (Taken over by A World UK)
- Scarborough
- Scunthorpe
- Shirley (Southampton)
- Skipton
- Stamford Hill
- Stourbridge
- Taunton
- Torquay
- Washington
- Wednesbury (Taken over by A World UK)
- Welling
- West Hampstead
- Workington
- Worthing
The remaining 15 stores are closing as their specific leases expire throughout late 2025 and early 2026.