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UK retail sales dampened as shoppers stay home in wet weather

High street shops, pubs and restaurants lose out as Britons relax on the sofa in February

The slowdown has hit hospitality businesses as they struggle with high energy bills, increased staff wages and continued food price inflation, leading to a net 3,000 licensed premises closing last year according to research from CGA and AlixPartners. Helen Dickinson, the chief executive of the BRC, which represents most big retailers, said the near-record rain of February had translated into a particularly poor month of sales growth: “Not even Valentine’s Day lifted customers out of the gloom, and gifting products that typically sell well, like jewellery and watches, failed to deliver.” She added that retailers would be “pinning their hopes on some good news in the chancellor’s spring budget this week to help kickstart a spending revival on the high street” as they continued to be squeezed by lower demand and faced increases in labour costs and business rates in April.

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