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Growth in retail remains flat

Oct 22 2009

Outlook still bad for retailers

Retail sales remained unchanged from August to September, according to the Office for National Statistics - lower than the consensus expectation of 0.2 per cent.

David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce, says: 'Disappointing retail sales figures for a second month in a row highlight concerns over the strength of the UK recovery. While there is still some hope that the forthcoming GDP figures will officially confirm that the UK’s recession has ended, it is clear that that the risks of a double-dip recession remain serious, even if a fragile recovery is now under way.'

Think tank the Centre for Economics Business and Research added that rising unemployment, slow wage growth and an impending increase in VAT are factors that will further impact upon the sector.

According to business consultant Begbies Traynor, last month saw a sharp rise in retailers in serious financial distress, with 125 retail companies experiencing critical problems – up 37 per cent from August.

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