Press Release
Highest London Sales Growth Since February
16 June 2008
- Retail sales in Central London in May were 8.2% higher than a year earlier, on a like-for-like basis. This was above the 6.3% in May 2007 and stronger than the 1.9% gain in the UK as whole.
- Retail footfall rose further above its year-earlier level, boosted by warm weather and some special sales events.
- Western Europeans remained the main overseas shoppers, taking advantage of the strength of the Euro, while Americans and Japanese were still discouraged by the weak dollar and yen.
- Warm sunny weather and sales events gave a good boost to clothing and footwear sales after several very difficult months. Homewares, especially big-ticket items such as furniture, were still tough, hit by the housing market weakness and squeeze on household budgets.
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Stephen Robertson, Director General, British Retail Consortium, said:
“Central London sales growth rose to its highest rate since February as summery weather finally arrived in early May. Shopper numbers were up on a year ago thanks to sun and sales bargains. But it may be that central London gains were partly offset elsewhere as high petrol prices discouraged Londoners from travelling to shopping centres further afield. Consumer confidence continued to fall in London, though higher average incomes and more tourists meant the fall was less than for the UK as a whole.”
Helen Dickinson, Head of Retail, KPMG, said:
”Once again, we see a wide variation in individual retailer performance across the capital. Many have taken advantage of the tough economic backdrop to bring forward high levels of promotional activity to drive footfall and increase sales, such that the overall picture, on the face of it, appears pretty resilient. Whether this is sustainable and what the cost is to the margins of some of the retailers operating in central London will only become apparent in the coming months.”
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