British Retail Consortium reveals disappointing figures
Growth in retail sales in the UK slowed to 0.5% during July with a number of big ticket items being hit particularly hard. This reduction in retail sales growth is a major concern to the industry at a time when the UK government has introduced major budget reductions and increased taxes across the board. Against this backdrop, something highlighted by the likes of Next and Carpetright last week, it is very difficult to see where any major improvement could come from in the short to medium term.
When you also take into account the fact that inflation may well come back to life because of the grain export ban in Russia, which would impact the cost of bread and many more common household products, there is no doubt that the remainder of 2010 and 2011 will be very tough for the UK retail sector. Slowly but surely the doomsday scenario predicted by a number of economists 12 months ago is beginning to materialise with house prices under pressure, retail sales slowing and the UK government under pressure to instigate yet more public-sector budget cuts.
To say there are tough times ahead for the UK retail sector is certainly a major understatement!
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