{"id":274,"date":"2019-06-26T11:57:24","date_gmt":"2019-06-26T11:57:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dev.joblookup.com\/explore\/?p=274"},"modified":"2020-06-29T13:08:58","modified_gmt":"2020-06-29T12:08:58","slug":"uk-retail-largest-slump-in-decade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/uk-retail-largest-slump-in-decade\/","title":{"rendered":"UK Retail has Largest Slump in Decade"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
The UK retail industry continues to suffer this month, as the CBI\u2019s recent report shows that consumer spending has fallen in a major way. The recorded slump is the fastest drop in retail sales since 2009.The online retail sub sector has seen an improvement from the lacklustre performance earlier in the year, but the CBI predicts that figures still probably won\u2019t reach previous averages as the months progress.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\"UK<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Key Report Findings<\/h2>\n
\n

The report gathered information from retailers, wholesalers, and motor traders. The results were as follows:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
Retailers:<\/b><\/div>\n
\n
    \n
  • 16% of retailers said that sales volumes were up in June on a year ago, whilst 58% said they were down, giving a weighted balance of -42%.<\/li>\n
  • 16% of respondents expect sales volumes to increase next month, whilst 27% expect a decrease, giving a balance of -11%.<\/li>\n
  • 15% of retailers placed more orders with suppliers than they did a year ago, whilst 48% placed fewer orders, giving a balance of -33%.<\/li>\n
  • 26% of retailers reported that their volume of sales for the time of year were good, while 45% said they were poor, giving a balance of -19%.<\/li>\n
  • Internet sales were broadly flat on a year ago (+3%), following growth in the previous month (+38%). Internet sales growth is expected to pick up in the year to July (+23%), but remain weaker than the long-run average (+46%).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \n
    Wholesalers:<\/b><\/div>\n
    \n
      \n
    • 31% of wholesalers reported sales volumes to be up on last year, and 22% said they were down, giving a balance of +9%. Volumes are expected to fall slightly next month (-4%).<\/li>\n
    • Orders placed upon suppliers fell (-10%), with a slower decline expected in the year to July (-4%).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

       <\/p>\n

      \n
      Motor traders:<\/b><\/div>\n
      \n
        \n
      • 10% of motor traders reported sales volumes were up on a year ago, while 51% said they were down, giving a balance of -41%. Volumes are expected to be broadly flat next month (-3%).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

         <\/p>\n

        Causes and Concerns<\/h2>\n
        \n

        While there is certainly cause for concern for the retail sector, given the current findings, the CBI\u2019s Chief Economist, Alpesh Paleja, <\/b>did mention the results should be taken with a pinch of salt. The reasoning is that last year\u2019s World Cup and abnormally hot weather led to a larger than normal rise in high street and retail spending. At the same time, he also pointed out that: \u201ceven accounting for both factors, underlying conditions on the high street remain challenging. Retailers are having to continually compete for the attention of value-conscious shoppers, in the age of digital disruption.\u201d.<\/p>\n

        Additionally, Mr Paleja highlighted the fact that high street retailers are facing a number of other challenges, alongside the competition from online stores. He called on the Prime Minister to take action, stating: \u201c\u201cThe new Prime Minister must help support retailers by reducing the high cumulative burden of costs they face. This should start by urgently reviewing the dire business rates system, which is unfairly impacting UK high streets and deterring much needed investment.\u201d.<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        CBI Economic Outlook<\/h2>\n
        \n

        The CBI\u2019s report doesn\u2019t expect the economy to change too much in the coming months, with only minimal growth expected. The real determining factor for economic growth however, rests very much on the outcome of Brexit. According to the CBI\u2019s economic projections, which have been pretty accurate over the last six months, a smooth Brexit is likely to see:<\/p>\n

          \n
        • A gradual improvement in quarterly household spending growth (1.4% – 2018, 0.8% – 2019, 1.4% – 2020), as real earnings start to show more signs of life.<\/li>\n
        • Business investment growth to pick up modestly from a poor 2018, as Brexit uncertainty lifts and the impact of spending on automation becomes more prominent (-0.5% – 2018, 0.3% – 2019, 1.7% – 2020).<\/li>\n
        • Slightly more support from government consumption, following announcements of increased spending on the NHS in the last Budget (0.6% – 2018, 1.8% – 2019, 2.0% – 2020).<\/li>\n
        • Exports to continue growing, supported by firm global growth (1.4% – 2018, 3.0% \u2013 2019, 3.1% – 2020). But a corresponding pick up in import growth (0.4% – 2018, 1.9% – 2019, 2.8% – 2020) means that support from net trade fizzles out.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

          If the UK doesn\u2019t manage to secure an orderly Brexit however, then these projected figures will be meaningless, according to the CBI\u2019s Director General, Carolyn Fairbairn: \u201cAn orderly Brexit next year would see the UK enjoy steady economic growth for the next couple of years. But as the range of recent impact studies show, a no deal scenario would blow these figures out of the water, severely hurting businesses, jobs and living standards.\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          The UK retail industry continues to suffer this month, as the CBI\u2019s recent report shows that consumer spending has fallen in a major way. The …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":354,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-companies","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=274"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1489,"href":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274\/revisions\/1489"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/joblookup.com\/explore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}