London sales up despite UK fall

Retail sales in Central London in April were 2.7 per cent higher than last year. However the increase was below the 4.5 per cent in April 2007, when Easter had boosted sales, but stronger than the 1.5% fall in the UK as a whole. Retail footfall improved only slightly according to the Retail Consortium. European holidays and the strength of the Euro brought Western European shoppers to London but Americans and Japanese were still discouraged by the weak dollar and yen. Clothing and footwear sales remained very difficult despite further discounts.

Stephen Robertson, Director General of British Retail Consortium said: “London retailers continued to weather the tough economic climate better than the rest of the UK as a whole, with upmarket fashion accessories, fragrances and skincare doing well. Despite colder and wetter weather, shopper numbers were up slightly. Retailers in the capital will work hard to continue delivering value, especially as household incomes get squeezed.”

Helen Dickinson, Head of Retail, KPMG, said:"This is a confirmation of the trend seen last month, as central London's retailers managed to squeeze out marginal like-for-like sales growth in contrast to the rest of the UK, where like-for-like sales fell by 1.5% in April. The ongoing challenges to the sector continue, with a tough economic backdrop highlighting the fragile level of consumer confidence."

Image: BRC