The retail sector has pleaded for the government to “lend a helping hand” after a wet February saw retail sales rise at the slowest pace since 2022.
The latest figures from the British Retail Consortium and KPMG show that sales edged up 1.1% year-on-year last month, compared to a 5.2% growth in February 2023.
Food sales jumped 6% over the three months to February, against a growth of 8.3% last year.
Total non-food sales came under pressure, dropping 2.5% year on year over the three months compared a 3.2% increase last year.
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BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said consumer demand was “dampened by the wettest February on record, translating into a poor month of retail sales growth”.
In-store non-food sales fell 2.3%, a steep drop from the 8.1% recorded in February 2023, while online retail sales sunk further from 3.1% to 4.1% last month.
Dickinson said: “Not even Valentine’s Day lifted customers out of the gloom, and gifting products that typically sell well, like jewellery and watches, failed to deliver.
“On the sunnier side, rainy weather did brighten sales of toys, as parents looked for ways to occupy their children indoors.
“With consumer confidence and demand remaining weak, Government must find ways to stimulate the economy.”
Dickinson called on the Chancellor to “lend a helping hand” in tomorrow’s Budget to reduce the burden of the “Government induced cost hurdles” that will hit the retail industry in the coming months, such as a £400m business rates rise based on last September’s 6.7% inflation rate.
M&S boss Stuart Machin criticised the “economically illiterate” rates rise on Monday, saying the current tax “balance is wrong and stymying growth”.
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