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Retail sales boost UK's SMEs

Published On 23 March 2007 at 08:59:44

The owners of Britain's small and medium-sized retial enterprises can breathe a sigh of relief as official figures show high street sales recovered after a poor January.

According to data published by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), retail sales grew by their fastest rate for more than two years in February.

Between the end of January and February, retail sales increased by 1.4 per cent. This was after sales in January dropped by 1.8 per cent.

The February upturn means that the total value of sales in the three month period to February was up 4.4 per cent when compared to the same period last year.

An ONS statement said: "There were robust increases in February for the three sectors that showed large falls in January, that is, clothing stores, household goods stores and 'other' non-food stores."

SMEs involved in the clothing industry will be particularly pleased with sales from the month. The ONS reported that sales in the sector increased by 4.7 per cent during February.

 

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