Economy
Economy explores the wider economic forces influencing the UK retail industry. This section covers inflation, consumer spending, interest rates, labour market conditions, and policy developments affecting retail performance and profitability. Retail Sectorโs Economy coverage provides expert analysis, data-driven insight, and commentary to help retail leaders, financial planners, and operational managers understand how macroeconomic trends are shaping demand, costs, and investment decisions across the sector.
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Feb- 2022 -21 February
Bira welcomes sales rise, but warns ‘all is not well’
The British Independent Retailers Association (Bira) has said it is โpleased to see a rise in retail salesโ, but warned retailers against โfalling into the trap of thinking all is wellโ. It was commenting on the recently released figures by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for the UK retail…
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18 February
Overseas appetite soars for UK retail sector M&A
Overseas interest has created a surge in deal activity in the UK retail sector in 2021, with overseas acquirors presenting 43% of deals across the year, which is reportedly the highest level of activity seen in a decade. According to research from Grant Thornton UK, this is a โsignificantโ increase…
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18 February
End of free Covid tests will harm workers, Union warns
Ending free tests and self-isolation rules, along with no masks, represents a โtriple whammyโ for Covid safety in stores, according to Usdaw Shoppers Union. It comes after news that government ministers are planning to stop supplies of coronavirus tests to universities in England, in the first case of ending the…
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16 February
Inflation hits 30-year high amid rising cost of living
Inflation rose by 5.5% in the 12 months to January 2022, up from 5.4% in December 2021, marking the highest annual inflation rate since May 1992. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the largest upward contributions to the change in the inflation rate between December 2021 and January…
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15 February
UK labour market sees recovery as unemployment falls to 4.1%
The UK labour market has seen โcontinuing recoveryโ as the unemployment rate decreased by 0.2% on the quarter to 4.1%, and employment rates increased by 0.1% in November 2021 to January 2022 to 75.5%. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the ratio of vacancies to every 100 employee…
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11 February
UK GDP rises 7.5% in 2021, largest increase since WW2
The UK economy increased by a โbetter-than-expectedโ 7.5% in 2021 to record the โfastestโ incline since the Second World War, following the 9.4% contraction in 2020. Data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), shows that the UK is on track to be the โfastest growing economyโ in the…
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7 February
Consumer confidence falls for second consecutive quarter
The Deloitte Consumer Tracker has revealed UK consumer confidence fell by one percentage point in Q4 2021 to -11%, the second consecutive quarter of decline. Deloitte said the result comes after consumers started to feel the โsqueeze of inflationโ and pockets were hit with higher household bills. Personal expenditure in…
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3 February
BoE raises interest rates to 0.5%
The Bank of England (BoE) has raised interest rates for the second time in three months to 0.5%, up from 0.25% previously. The BoE Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) confirmed it voted by a majority of 5-4 to increase Bank Rate by 0.25 percentage points, to 0.5%. Interestingly, it revealed those…
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3 February
Energy price cap to rise 54% from April
Retail bosses are braced for a spending squeeze after it was revealed the energy price cap is set to increase by 54% from 1 April amid a โrecordโ increase in global gas prices, in a move that is set to affect approximately 22 million customers. Energy regulator Ofgem announced that…
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Jan- 2022 -24 January
2021 footfall found to be 31% lower than in 2019
Footfall across all UK retail destinations was โ31.1% lower than in 2019, but up from -39.1% in 2020, with retail parks continuing to display a โnotable resilienceโ than either high streets or shopping centres in retaining footfall, according to Springboardโs 2021 report. Springboard said that โit was the three month…
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