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Sales growth for SME retailers is at its slowest rate for almost a year due to a lack of consumer confidence, according to new figures.

The Confederation of British Industry's (CBI) monthly retail survey discovered that a third of retailers reported a drop in year-on-year sales in the first half of October.

And the organisation blamed the slowdown on the effect that five interest rate increases in the last year have had on consumer confidence.

John Longworth, chairman of the CBI's Distributive Trades Panel, says: 'Although slightly better sales are expected in November, retailers' hopes have been disappointed for the past few months, and they anticipate only subdued growth in the important run-up to Christmas.

'As consumers begin to feel the pinch, they will look to retailers who offer them value for their money,' he added.

According to government figures, there are more than 270,000 retailers in the UK and nearly half of those are owned and manager by a sole trader, while a further 103,000 have less than five employees.