UK shops hit hard: Recent sales drop brings back memories of lockdown times
British stores face biggest sales decline since covid times with both online and physical shops seeing less customers. New budget changes and economic worries make shop-owners think twice about future plans
Recent data shows UK stores are having a rough time - sales dropped 5.8% compared to last year which hasnt been seen since the covid lockdowns. Sophie Michael from BDO says its a real problem for shops that are already worried about the new £7bn cost hit from Rachel Reevesʼs budget changes
The drop includes both web-shopping (down 7.8%) and in-store buying (down 5.5%). Fashion shops got hit extra-hard with an 8% fall; this is happening while stores try to deal with higher costs and less people buying stuff
The timing of black-friday sales this year (happening a week later than usual) didnt help but theres more to it: people are being extra-careful with money because of high energy-costs and bigger house-payments. Its creating a not-so-good mix of problems that makes shoppers think twice before spending
Business mood isnt great either - for the first time this year companies think things will get worse by early-25. Christmas job openings dropped to 21‚576 (down from last years 24‚699); big stores like M&S and Sainsburyʼs are looking at huge extra costs from new rules
These results are disastrous for the retail sector
In a try to help fix things NatWest is setting up a new group called the UK Mid Market Council. Paul Thwaite from NatWest says this will give medium-sized companies more say in how things work: “The mid-market can be an engine of growth for the economy; they need support to do that“
