Poor figures from John Lewis, and a slowdown at Tesco and Sainsbury’s has raised fresh concerns that the uncertain political climate is taking its toll on consumer confidence this Christmas. December is the most lucrative time of the year for the retail sector but John Lewis said sales in its department stores fell by more than 5% last week. The picture from its fashion and homewares divisions was even weaker, with sales in both down by about 7%. Last week Primark warned of “challenging” trading conditions as fewer shoppers visited its stores. That pattern was borne out by figures from the retail research group Springboard which showed the number of shopper visiting the high street fell by 3.2% last month. Clive Black, an analyst at Shore Capital, said the “political shenanigans would not cancel Christmas” but cautioned that profits at the large listed grocery chains could be hit if the subdued consumer activity persisted. “We have a worried nation … resulting in low consumer confidence and cautious spending pattern,” he said. Although Britons are stocking up for the big day, spending nearly £300m on boxes of chocolates and £18m on brussels sprouts, the latest data from analysts at Kantar Worldpanel… Read full this story
- Almost 10,000 care home residents have now died from coronavirus in the UK as official figures reveal 25% of all victims are in care homes - and data suggests Britain's true death toll could be almost 45,000
- UK coronavirus hospital death toll rises by 205 in lowest daily total since March
- Lockdowns COULD be eased regionally says No 10 as new data suggests just 24 people a day in London are catching coronavirus
- New Local Data Reveals UK’s Genuine COVID Hot Spots Amid Lockdown Easing Plans
- UK announces 627 more coronavirus deaths taking official number of victims to 32,692 - but separate grim statistics suggest the TRUE death toll could be around 45,000
- Boris Johnson accused of coronavirus cover-up by dropping Europe death comparisons as UK passes 33k deaths
- UK becomes first country in Europe to surpass 30,000 coronavirus deaths with 649 more victims prompting calls for an inquiry and Boris admitting the numbers are 'appalling' - as officials reveal more than 200,000 Brits have now tested positive
- Britain announces 626 more coronavirus deaths - including a six-week-old baby thought to be UK's youngest known victim - as death toll tops 31,000
- Teenager dies of coronavirus in UK: Boy, 18, from Coventry is one of 47 new deaths in 24 hours as toll hits 281 and total cases leaps 665 to 5683
- Calls for coronavirus inquiry as UK becomes the sickest nation in Europe after death toll overtakes Italy by jumping to 29,427... and the TRUE total could be more than 40,000 - more than died in the Blitz
Retail data suggests UK political turmoil taking its toll this Christmas have 434 words, post on www.theguardian.com at December 11, 2018. This is cached page on CuBird. If you want remove this page, please contact us.