• Fact 1 - In less than a week, Jessops, Blockbusters and HMV have called in the administrators: 1,000 stores could close, with over 10,000 jobs lost.

• Fact 2 - Between July and September 2021, there were almost 4,000 'company liquidations' - in England & Wales alone.

Woolworths, Jessops, HMV, Blockbusters, Comet, Clinton Cards, Game, Peacocks, JJB Sports, Habitat…

Once upon a time, there wasn't much these businesses had in common. These days, it's all too obvious. They're just a few of the mighty that have fallen as the economic downturn bites and people cut back on their spending.

Without spending, retailers simply can't survive. And when they fail, it's not just bad news for their employees. It can have a serious knock-on effect on their suppliers and business customers, who might have to lay off staff of their own if they can't find a new partner offering the same kind of service.

For the rest of us ('consumers', as we're often called), every corporate demise means the high street's a bit duller, a bit stranger and a bit more like a ghost town, with more and more boarded-up windows filling the gaps between businesses still enjoying better health - on the surface, at least.

Does open = healthy?

Here's another worrying fact to think about. Just because a shop's open, it doesn't mean it's flourishing.

In November, R3 told us that 160,000 businesses in the UK were classed as zombies. Not because of their feeding habits, but because they're no longer 'alive' in the traditional sense.

A zombie business is one that can pay the interest on its debts, but can't afford to make a dent in the debt itself. So they're not really getting anywhere.

Back in July, there were 146,000 companies in that condition - and a 10% increase in zombies in just four months isn't good news in anyone's book.

On the other hand, the fact that a company's 'failed' doesn't mean it's disappeared. Woolworths famously 'entered insolvency proceedings' in 2008 - but check out www.woolworths.co.uk and you'll see it's very much alive today.

Why so many casualties?

The downturn isn't the only reason companies are folding. Some businesses are simply more vulnerable when consumer spending drops. It could be because they can't compete on price, or convenience, or choice, to name just three areas. It could be because they can't do business as cheaply as their rivals. Every case is different.

It's hard to read about HMV's problems, for instance, without reading about the competition from online companies like Amazon.

As R3's president Frances Coulson puts it, "the most significant change [in people's habits] is consumers' shift to the internet."

One of R3's surveys showed that around 31% of us now shop online - and this has "definitely impacted on those retailers that have a very heavy high-street presence."

After all, these are the businesses which "have to pay rent regardless of whether they are seeing less money going through their tills."

Big or small - who's struggling today?

The big names might be the ones that catch our attention, but smaller companies are actually more likely to be suffering, according to R3:

• 37% of small businesses

• 19% of medium-sized businesses

• 7% of large businesses

…have seen their profits shrink.

• 24% of small businesses

• 6% of medium-sized businesses

• No large businesses

…are regularly up to their overdraft limit.

Do you miss them?

You can miss a company in different ways.

• It might be because it's an iconic name that's been a part of British life since before your granddad was born.

• It might be because it's a big employer where you live - and bad news for employment figures in your local area.

• It might be because you're left with vouchers that aren't worth the paper they're printed on.

A final word about zombies

Strangely enough, the death of a zombie could actually be good news, as the BBC's Robert Peston mentioned on the radio the other day.

One thing we've learned from past recessions, he points out, is that economic growth doesn't really pick up again "until unviable and inefficient businesses are put of their misery".

Basically, when that happens, it means lenders have more money to lend to other companies (who might have a much better shot at a healthy future). It also means they'll also have more space to grow, with their enormous rivals out of the way.

Of course, to someone who's just lost their job, that won't be much of a consolation.