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Retail sales figures offer hope for SMEs

Published On 20 April 2007 at 12:48:57

Businesses worried about the current economic situation in the UK, after recent figured showed inflation was on the rise, will be relieved to see retail sales have remained strong.

Figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) show that retail sales in the UK increased by 0.4 per cent in the three months from January when compared to the previous quarter.

While not as strong as the three-month growth of 1.2 per cent recorded in February, the figures are encouraging as this quarter last year experienced a slump of 0.3 per cent.

When compared to the same three months in 2006, total sales volumes increased by 4.5 per cent - the largest increase since November 2004.

Overall, the average weekly value of sales in March for UK businesses was £4.8 billion - 5.8 per cent higher than in March 2006.

Despite these relatively strong figures, the UK's small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) are resigned to an interest rate increase when the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee meets early next month.

However, David Kern, the British Chamber of Commerce's economic adviser, said that "calls for a 50 basis points increase to 5.75 per cent are misguided and potentially dangerous".

 

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