The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has today announced retail sales saw a slight improvement in September According to the BRC/KPMG retail sales monitor, like-for-like sales (which exclude the impact of sales at new stores) rose 0.3% on an annual basis. However, clothing sales suffered while demand for big-ticket items remained weak due to fragile consumer [...]
There is a mixed bag of retail sales figures today after Home Retail Group announced a drop in sales at both its Argos and Homebase chains. The figures are further evidence of a cutback in consumer spending after electrical goods group, Dixons Retail, yesterday posted a fall in sales. At Argos, like-for-like sales in the [...]
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has today reported weak retail sales for August. According to the BRC, like-for-like sales (which exclude the impact of sales at new stores) fell 0.6% last month on an annual basis. Overall sales rose 1.5%, however, this was much lower than the 2.8% rise noted in August 2010. Commenting, Stephen [...]
A snapshot survey of retailers hit by the riots two weeks ago found that across 899 stores retailers lost over 7,500 hours of trading and reported more than 11,000 members of staff affected by the violence. However, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) expects the damage to the sector as a whole to be “considerably higher” [...]
The vacancy rate for shops across Britain’s High Streets and shopping centres stands at over 11%, according to new research from the British Retail Consortium (BRC). Northern Ireland (17.1%), Wales (13.4%) and the North and Yorkshire (13.1%) recorded the highest vacancy rates, as overall footfall between May and July 2011 fell 1% compared with a [...]
The British Retail Consortium’s (BRC) latest consumer confidence survey has revealed how consumer shopping habits have changed due to the Government spending cuts and the rise in the cost of living. According to the survey released by the BRC and Nielsen, almost one third of those questioned feel that they have no cash left over [...]
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has warned that the riots will cause significant harm to British businesses as they count the costs of stolen and damaged goods. The weekend riots in London have already spread to other parts of the UK and the BRC warned that retailers of all sizes had suffered damage. Prime Minister [...]
Retail sales rose in July but conditions remain challenging as households continue to be squeezed by higher inflation and rising unemployment. According to the British Retail Consortium (BRC)/KPMG retail sales monitor, like-for-like sales rose 0.6% last month on an annual basis. On a total basis, meanwhile, sales were 2.5% higher, against a 2.6% increase in [...]
Retail sales fell in June as households continue to be squeezed by higher inflation and rising unemployment. According to the British Retail Consortium (BRC)/KPMG retail sales monitor, sales fell by 0.6% on an underlying basis last month, while total sales (including VAT) rose 1.5%. Food sales growth eased a little last month but a strong [...]
According to the British Retail Consortium (BRC), shop price inflation rose in June on the back of growing food prices. The BRC said shop price inflation surged to its highest rate since October 2008 in June. Higher petrol and commodity costs lifted shop prices to 2.9% in June from 2.3% in May while food inflation [...]
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has today reported a fall in credit card usage as consumers look to cash and debit cards for their purchases. According to a survey by the BRC, which represents 90% of the UK’s stores, shoppers are opting to use their debit cards and cash to avoid borrowing. However, the number [...]
Higher inflation has led to a fall in retail sales for the month of May, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) today. The fall was also attributed to consumers overspending in April due to the long bank holiday weekends and hot weather. The BRC said annual like-for-like retail sales fell by 2.1% in May [...]
The long bank holiday weekends and sunny weather has led to a surge in retail sales for the month of April, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) today. The BRC said retail sales grew 5.2% last month due to the late Easter holidays, hot weather and Royal Wedding, with clothing, barbecue food, champagne and [...]
Retail sales fell sharply last month – providing further evidence of a fragile economic recovery. According to the British Retail Consortium (BRC)/KPMG retail sales monitor, total sales fell by 1.9% on an annual basis - the worst fall since the series started in 1995. The trade body attributed the fall to the ongoing squeeze on [...]
Retail sales fell last month - providing further evidence of a fragile economic recovery. According to the British Retail Consortium (BRC)/KPMG retail sales monitor, like-for-like sales fell 0.4% in February on an annual basis after a 2.3% rise in January. The trade body attributed the fall to the ongoing squeeze on household incomes as fears [...]
Retail sales recovered in January after the heavy snowfall in December knocked sales. According to the British Retail Consortium (BRC)/KPMG retail sales monitor, like-for-like retail sales grew by 2.3% in January on an annual basis - the best showing since March 2010. Total sales increased 4.2%, up from 1.5% in December. However, the BRC highlights [...]
The UK’s biggest retailers are currently reporting their Christmas trading figures, and it has been a mixed bag so far. Today, British retailing giant Marks and Spencer (M&S) said sales in the final quarter of 2010 were up despite the heavy snowfall which gripped much of the country last month. The 127-year-old retailer which sells [...]
The heavy snowfall which gripped most of the country last month was expected to impact negatively on retail sales. However, retail sales fell just 0.3% on a like-for-like basis, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC)/KPMG retail sales monitor. However, total sales rose 1.5% against 6% growth the previous year - a sharp drop but [...]
The rate of VAT will today rise from 17.5% to 20% as the Government looks to raise billions of pounds in order to trim the UK’s budget deficit. While many are prepared for the increase, retail sales are expected to be hit as consumers are expected to cut back on their spending over the coming [...]
According to experts, the forthcoming VAT hike will have resulted in the purchase of big-ticket items - boosting retail sales in December and the first few days of January. However, the VAT rise from 17.5% to 20%, which kicks in tomorrow, is expected to mean consumers will cut back on their spending over the coming [...]
RBS initiates talks with Virgin Money over branches
Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is seeking a new buyer for 316 branches after a deal with Santander fell through, and is believed to have approached Virgin Money. RBS is required the sell the branches under the EU conditions attached to the £45 billion bailout it received from the government when it came to the [...]
Government to legislate on uncollected debt
The Government is planning to introduce new laws allowing its departments to share information on individuals and companies that owe them money. The proposal follows a review by the Cabinet Office’s Fraud, Error and Debt taskforce. Around £20 billion is owed to the Government and more than £7 billion is lost each year through unpaid [...]
The rate of inflation on the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) fell to 2.2 per cent last month according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), its lowest level since November 2009. In August, CPI inflation, which excludes mortgage interest payments, stood at 2.5 per cent. The Retail Prices Index (RPI) measure of inflation, which includes [...]
Pot-follows-member reform could hit retirement income
Proposals to allow workers to move their workplace pension to a new scheme each time they move employment have been criticised by pension and consumer groups. The Department for Work and Pensions is introducing the ‘pot follows member’ approach to avoid the potential problem of workers having several small pots when they reach retirement age, [...]
Accident numbers fall but whiplash claims still rise
The number of claims for compensation for a whiplash injury sustained in a motor accident has continued to increase despite a fall in accident numbers, the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries has revealed. The Institute reported a 20 per cent drop in the number of injuries reported to the police in accidents between 2006 and [...]
Consumer spending power weakens
Annual income growth fell to 1.7 per cent last month, its lowest level since December 2010, according to Lloyds Banking Group’s Spending Power Report for September. This was largely responsible for a 0.9 per cent fall in real discretionary spending power, with the amount consumers have to spend on non-essential items falling around £8 per [...]
Funding for Lending scheme prompts mortgage cuts
Mortgage brokers have attributed moves by several lenders to cut their mortgage rates to the Bank of England’s recently launched Funding for Lending scheme. Ray Boulger of mortgage brokers John Charcol said that the Funding for Lending scheme was the key to the cuts. “Wholesale borrowing rates have fallen quite quickly since the scheme was [...]
RBS computer glitch costs Ulster Bank £18m
An IT failure at parent company RBS was a “major disaster” for Ulster Bank, its chief executive Jim Brown told a committee at the Northern Ireland parliament. Following a routine software upgrade on 19 June which went wrong, thousands of Ulster Bank customers were unable to access their accounts. Ulster Bank has paid out £18m [...]
Auto-enrolment could lead to pensions mis-selling
The Pensions Institute has warned that the government’s recently launched auto-enrolment programme could lead to workers being enrolled into poor-value pension schemes. This month employers started to automatically enrol workers aged between 22 years and state pension age into a workplace pension, as long as they earn £8,105 or more. The scheme has started with [...]
Annuity rates plummet due to money-printing
Annuity rates have fallen by 7 per cent in just three months according to MGM Advantage, the retirement income specialist. This means that a 65 year old man with pension savings of £50,000 would receive a retirement income of £2,579 a year from the annuity they purchased with their pension pot, compared with £2,778 in [...]
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