My blueprint to save 'army of the walking dead Back in 2008, there were 8,598 retail businesses with liabilities at least £5,000 higher than their assets; zombie companies in the commercial equivalent of negative equity in the housing market. Between them, they had a net deficit of £1.1bn. Fast forward to summer 2013 and this army of the retail walking dead has more than doubled to more than 20,000, with £2.3bn of net liabilities to service. Even more worrying, the overall financial health of the sector gives real cause for concern. Almost half (46.6pc) of the UK's 44,000 retail companies are in the Company Watch warning area, with a financial health rating of 25 or less out of a maximum of 100. Over the past 15 years, statistics show that a quarter of these 20,500 troubled retailers will fail in the next three years. Among the smallest retailers, the independent backbone of so many high streets and town centres, the prospects are the most bleak. A staggering two thirds of them are in the warning area and sadly most of them lack the financial resources to see them through their problems. And these problems are not just confined to retailers; they ripple out across a supply chain into the agriculture, manufacturing and wholesale sectors, which pegs the fortunes of another 50,000 UK companies to the success of the retail industry. We all know retail matters. It employs more than 3m people and with its supply chain it invests £135bn of net capital, much more than the Government's entire health budget and almost three times the education budget. It borrows £65bn of the scarce resources in a banking sector apparently still strapped for the cash to lend to businesses. Reducing the level of financial stress should be an urgent priority for local and central government and the host of other stakeholders in the sector. It simply isn't good enough to just wring our hands and reminisce about the good old days on the high street. We have to work as never before to create a new, invigorated environment that will attract people into our town centres, reborn as welcoming and lively community hubs. Retail may not be the anchor for the high street of the future, but more footfall will surely help to drive a retail revival. Bill Grimsey is the former CEO of Wickes and Iceland. His review of the high street will be published on Wednesday