British Retail Consortium news and archive

BRC responds to Employment Rights Bill roadmap

The British Retail Consortium has welcomed the publication of the Employment Rights Bill Roadmap by the government on July 1, which sets out the timelines for measures in the Bill aimed at boosting rights for half of all UK workers and providing certainty to employers. The government states the Bill will raise living standards across the country...

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Retail

December sales boost fails to save UK retail’s “Golden Quarter”

Christmas fails to save 2024 trading, as new data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG International reveals that UK total retail sales for the year increased by just 0.7 percent from 2023, while non-food declined by 1.5 percent. For the three months to December, known as the “Golden Quarter,” sales growth was 0.4 percent...

Retail

Industry leaders comment on September retail sales growth

Retail sales rose by 0.3 percent in September and increased 3.6 percent by value and 4 percent by volume. Three industry leaders comment on the latest figures: Kris Hamer, Director of Insight at the British Retail Consortium, said: “September saw the strongest retail sales growth since January, and the highest sales volume since March 2022. This...

Retail

UK retail sales show modest growth amid summer spending

Retail sales in the UK saw a slight uptick in August, driven by summer-related purchases, according to the latest BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor. Total retail sales increased by 1 percent year-on-year, outpacing the three-month average growth of 0.4% but falling short of the 12-month average of 1.2 percent. Non-food sales, which includes fashion,...

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Business

UK retailers see sustainability as a major business driver

A new study analysing the sustainability of the UK retail industry through a survey of British Retail Consortium (BRC) members has found that 85 percent of major retailers outline sustainability as a business driver. The report, ‘The Imperative to Act: Advancing Sustainability Maturity within the UK Retail Industry,’ conducted by BearingPoint,...

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Retail

BRC launches manifesto for retail

The British Retail Consortium (BRC), the trade association for UK retail businesses, has launched its ‘Manifesto for Retail’ ahead of the general election, calling on all political parties to take a “fresh thinking” approach for a better retail future. 2023 was a challenging year for consumers, with the ONS showing that retail sales volumes fell...

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Retail

July’s rain dampens consumer demand for clothing

The wet weather in July has impacted retail sales across the UK in the four weeks from July 2 to 29, particularly non-food sales, including clothing, according to the latest data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG's Retail Sales Monitor. The data reveals that the value of retail sales was 1.5 percent in July against a growth of...

Retail

BRC calls on retailers to make ‘meaningful change’ through D&I strategies

A report by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) has found that 66 percent of retailers in the UK have no specific targets when it comes to diversity and inclusion (D&I), prompting the organisation to urge for more “meaningful change” in this area. Titled ‘Diversity and Inclusion in UK Retail’, the report, made alongside The MBS Group, did note...

Retail

Retail jobs fall by 14,000 as retailers attempt to keep costs down

New figures from the Office for National Statistics have shown a significant decline in retail jobs over Q4 2022, as retailers continue their efforts to keep costs low. According to the government department’s Labour Market results, there were 3.12 million jobs in UK retail as of December 2022, down 14,000 year-on-year. Meanwhile, retail...

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Retail

Retail vacancies saw marginal decrease towards end of 2022

New figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) found that the UK’s retail vacancy rate saw a slight improvement compared to that of the previous year. In the fourth quarter of 2022, vacancies improved to 13.8 percent, 0.1 percentage points up from Q3 and 0.6 up compared to the same period in 2021. All locations were reported to have seen...

Retail

Christmas footfall highest since beginning of pandemic, according to BRC

Despite a shift in consumer confidence and their move towards essentials amid a cost-of-living crisis triggered by record inflation, footfall during the peak Christmas period was reportedly the highest since the beginning of the pandemic. According to the British Retail Consortium’s Sensormatic IQ data, total UK footfall for 2022 still fell 11.8...

Retail

Card payments soared to 90 percent of retail payments in 2021

The pandemic changed the way consumers pay, with card use accounting for 90 percent of all retail payments in 2021, as the public was advised to use contactless payments. The British Retail Consortium’s (BRC) latest annual Payments Survey reveals that cash usage fell to just 15 percent of all transactions in 2021, down from 30 percent in 2020....