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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Mar- 2018 -29 March
A quarter of SME retailers expect to see Easter sales increase
A quarter of SME retailers expect to see an increase in sales activity over the Easter bank holiday weekend, according to a study commissioned by Royal Mail. DIY items, electronics and alcohol are the products that most SME retailers expect will sell well over the Easter bank holiday weekend. The…
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26 March
No-deal Brexit ‘could add £7.8bn’ to retail costs
New research launched from Retail Economics and Squire Patton Boggs shows that £7.8bn could be added to the cost of retail goods if the UK fails to agree a favourable trade deal with the EU before departure. The research features in the first edition of the UK Retail Brexit and…
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23 March
Retail sales see first increase in two months
Retail sales increased by 0.8% in February this year compared with the previous month, with increases seen across all main sectors except non-food stores. The latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed the first uptick after two monthly declines in December and January, resulting in an overall…
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21 March
UK consumer price inflation falls in February
The consumer price inflation (CPI) rate fell from 2.7% in January to 2.5% in February 2018, according to the Office of National Statistics. The largest contributions to the fall were attributed to transport and food prices, which rose by less than the previous year. Rising prices for footwear produced the…
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14 March
Morrisons reports third consecutive year of profit growth
Supermarket giant Morrisons has revealed profit growth of 16.9% to £380m, in a third consecutive year of positive financial growth. The group’s like-for-like sales also rose to 2.8% in 2018, compared with 1.9% the previous year, and revenue increased by 5.8% to £17.3bn. In the trading update the group said…
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13 March
Consumer spending suffers weakest start since 2012
The latest Visa UK Consumer Spending Index data revealed a reduction in overall consumer spending in February, calling it the weakest start to the year since 2012. On an annual basis expenditure declined by 1.1%, similar to the 1.2% reduction seen at the start of 2018. Overall, household spending has…
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12 March
Quarter of major UK retailers likely to suffer ‘financial distress’
A new study of over 1600 larger UK retailers with total assets of £5m or over by Company Watch, a financial analytics firm, found over a quarter were financially vulnerable to rises in interest rate costs this year. Company Watch compares the financial strength of companies using its unique H-Score…
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1 March
Shoppers shun high street for online as January sees strongest growth since 2013
Online retail delivery order volumes were up 20.6% year-on-year in January, according to the latest data from the IMRG MetaPack UK Delivery Index. This was the strongest January growth for online order volumes since 2013. During the same period, footfall fell to its lowest January rate in five years –…
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Feb- 2018 -28 February
Pressures on shop prices ease
February shop price deflation deepened to 0.8% in February 2018 compared 0.5% with the previous month. According the British Retail Consortium deflation in non-food prices deepened in February, with prices decreasing at a rate of 2.2% compared to January when prices declined by 1.9%. This was the deepest deflation since…
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27 February
High street banks urged to continue taking in old £10 notes to ‘save’ retailers
Retailers are continuing to hand out old £10 notes despite them ceasing to be legal tender on 1 March 2018. However, the Bank of England has not asked shops to stop giving them as change, which could cause issues as £2bn effectively becomes unspendable. The British Retail Consortium said: “It…
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