THE British high street is facing unprecedented challenges and 2020 looks set to be a year of more big names disappearing from our town centres.

This week brought with it a warning from one of Britain’s oldest department stores, Beales, that it was on the brink of collapsing into administration.

Beales, which began trading in Bournemouth in 1881, said 22 stores and 1,000 jobs were at stake if it could not find a buyer.

The news came hot on the heels of the confirmation last week that Hexham Outlet Centre, owned by Beales, would close the doors of the premises which straddle Fore Street and Priestpopple at some point next month.

The announcements were the latest blow to many loyal members of staff at the Hexham store, where uncertainty continues to surround the future of the site, which sits in the heart of the town centre.

Our thoughts are with all of those affected by the turbulent times at the store in recent years.

Negotiations with landlords to try to agree rent reductions were again under way, Beales confirmed.

Meanwhile, two potential buyers were said to be in talks with the leadership team, including chief executive of Beales, Tony Brown, who led a management buyout of the firm in 2018.

Whatever the outcome of those discussions, it is clear a major overhaul of Beales and what it has to offer customers is required if it is to have any place on our high streets of the future.

As for the site in Hexham, which looks set to be standing empty from next month, a mixed use approach to the future of retail centres seems to be the direction of travel in many parts of the country.

It is clear that successfully turning the decline in high street retail outlets into an opportunity for Hexham town centre to be reinvented is going to take careful planning and a joined up approach.