Economy
The latest news, updates and analysis on the economy and how it is affecting the UK retail industry. Sign up to the Daily Briefing and let Retail Sector’s business journalists keep you in the picture.
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Jun- 2025 -11 June
Women’s Euros to deliver £593m retail boost, report finds
The Women’s Euro 2025 football tournament is expected to deliver a £593.4m boost to UK retail, according to a new report from VoucherCodes.co.uk. The Women’s UEFA Euro 2025 Spending Report forecasts that the event will contribute £851.6m to the UK economy overall. Around 19.7 million fans are expected to watch…
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10 June
Retail sales rise 1% in May despite low non-essential spending
Total retail sales rose by 1% year-on-year in the four weeks to 31 May, up from 0.7% in the same period last year, despite customers cutting back on non-essential purchases, according to new figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC). It comes as consumer confidence had risen in May, supported…
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5 June
Consumer confidence hasn’t recovered since Brexit vote, Barclays finds
Consumer confidence reached its highest point in the past 10 years in September 2016, at 48%, just after the Brexit referendum, according to Barclays’ “10 Years of Spend” report. Barclays has been tracking consumer confidence monthly since 2015 and also surveyed 2000 people in the UK for the report, which…
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May- 2025 -30 May
Lidl, Halfords and The Range repay staff over minimum wage breach
Lidl, Halfords and The Range are among a number of UK companies named and shamed by the Department for Business and Trade for paying some workers less than minimum wage between 2015 and 2022. Lidl failed to pay £286,437.18 to 3,423 workers, Halfords failed to pay £140,829.79 to 4,341 workers…
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29 May
US trade court blocks Trump’s tariff changes
The US Court of International Trade has deemed Donald Trump’s tariff changes “illegal”, which could see the president’s controversial global trade policy get blocked. According to the New York-based trade court, an emergency law initiated by the White House did not grant the president the sole power to levy tariffs…
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27 May
Fresh food prices drive food inflation up 2.8% in May
Food inflation increased to 2.8% year-on-year in May, rising for the fourth consecutive month, driven by a surge in the cost of fresh food, according to the BRC-NIQ Shop Price Index. It found that Fresh Food inflation increased to 2.4%, against growth of 1.8% in April. This is above the…
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23 May
Retail sales beat expectations in April
Retail sales volumes increased 1.2% in April 2025, up from a rise of 0.1% in March 2025, marking the fourth consecutive month of growth and easily beating forecasts of 0.2%. Food store sales increased 3.9%, mostly recovering from falls in February and March 2025. Supermarkets, specialist food stores such as…
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21 May
Inflation jumps to 3.5% in April
Inflation increased to 3.5% in April, according to the latest figures for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which it blamed on a “significant increase” in household bills. The 12-month inflation rate for housing and household services was 7.0% in April 2025, up from 5.1% in March. On a monthly…
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19 May
Retailers urge Reeves to reinstate VAT-free shopping
Retailers are urging chancellor Rachel Reeves to reinstate tax-free shopping for tourists as US escalating tariffs continue to cause disrupture, The Times has revealed. In a joint letter to the chancellor, seen by The Times, four major trade bodies — the British Retail Consortium, the British Beauty Council, Walpole and…
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15 May
UK economy grows by more than expected 0.7% in Q1
The UK economy performed better than expected in the first quarter of the year, with GDP growing by 0.7% between January and March, following a 0.1% rise the prior quarter. This was ahead of analysts’ expectations, who had forecast a growth of 0.6% for the period. According to the Office…
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