BRC news and archive

Retail braces for a rocky start to 2025

The British Retail Consortium’s latest BRC-Opinium Consumer Confidence Tracker paints a stark picture for the retail sector heading into 2025. While consumer sentiment around personal financial situations held steady at -3 in December, broader economic pessimism deepened significantly, with expectations about the state of the economy plunging to...

Business

BRC forecasts January ‘spending squeeze’ as consumer confidence declines

New data collated by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Opinium has pointed to concerning forecasts for the coming January, when the council’s chief executive, Helen Dickinson, said retailers should expect a “spending squeeze”. Personal financial situations remained at -3 in December, the same as November, while the state of the economy...

Retail

Retail sector loses 225,000 jobs in five years

It is no secret that the retail sector has faced significant challenges in recent years, the impact of which has been reflected in new job figures issued by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). According to the organisation’s data, there were 2.81 million jobs in retail in September 2024, yet on a four-quarter average, this was 40,000 fewer...

Business

UK sees highest inflation rates since March, clothing drives up figures

New figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have revealed an increase in inflation once again. According to the data, the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rose by 2.6 percent in the 12 months to November 2024, increasing from 2.3 percent in the 12 months to October. On a monthly basis, meanwhile, CPI rose 0.1 percent for the month,...

Retail

Footfall decreases in November as retailers pin hope on festive season

Disappointing footfall levels over the course of November have left retailers turning their attention and hope towards the more abundant festive season, with the later date of Black Friday meaning the shopping event will now contribute to this period. For the four weeks from October 27 to November 23, the British Retail Consortium (BRC),...

Retail

Inflation rises once again as shoppers remain cautious

For the period November 1 to 7, shop price inflation was higher than the previous month for what was the first time in 17 months, despite remaining largely in the negatives, new figures by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) have shown. Shop price deflation was at 0.6 percent in November, up from deflation of 0.8 percent in the previous month,...

Retail

Fashion sales take ‘biggest hit’ in October despite increases elsewhere

For the four weeks spanning September 29 to October 27, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) reported a “disappointing” retail sales growth of just 0.6 percent year-on-year, against a growth of 2.6 percent in October 2023. This was below the three-month average growth of 1.3 percent and the 12-month average growth of 1 percent, and came despite a...

BusinessFeatured

‘Tale of two halves’: Industry reacts to ‘damaging’ Autumn Budget

The Autumn Budget, the first to have been issued by Labour in 13 years, has received mixed reactions from industry insiders and experts alike, with a 40 billion pound uptick in taxes being at the centre of discussion. On Wednesday, Chancellor Rachel Reeves unveiled the budget via a lengthy speech in which she noted that she did “not take this...

Business

Shop prices fall in October, fashion sales ‘turning a corner’

New figures have shown a drop in shop prices for the beginning of October, with deflation sitting at 0.8 percent, down from deflation of 0.6 percent in the previous month. According to the British Retail Consortium (BRC), which tracked its data from October 1 to 7, this latest figure also came below the three-month average rate of -0.6 percent,...

Retail

Back-to-school shopping helps boost UK retail sales

Retail sales in the UK saw a welcomed boost for the five weeks to September 28, as back-to-school shopping and autumn clothing demand helped bump figures up. For the month, total sales rose 2 percent year-on-year, against a growth of 2.7 percent in the same period last year. This was above the three month average growth of 1.2 percent the...

Business

Over 70 retail bosses urge chancellor to cut UK business rates

More than 70 UK retailers have called on chancellor Rachel Reeves to cut business rates by 20 percent as part of a push to introduce a ‘Retail Rates Corrector’ in order to help “level the playing field”. The bosses of the companies, including those of Marks & Spencer, Primark and Tesco, co-signed an open letter coordinated by the British Retail...

Retail

UK footfall up in September as weather improves

Footfall in the UK rose for the first time in over a year in September, increasing 3.3 percent year-over-year and up from -0.4 percent in the month prior. Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium (BRC), which published the data with Sensormatic, credited the uptick to “mild temperatures” that she said had left retailers...