
“We are not going to see consumer spend growing in the next two years.” – that’s the verdict of Andy Hornby, the chief executive of Alliance Boots, on the British economy.
If his prediction proves to be true, this would be gloomy news for Britain’s entrepreneurs, as it would seriously hamper business growth. Hornby was speaking at the Retail Week conference in London, on a panel alongside Tesco’s UK chief executive Richard Brasher. Figures from the British Retail Consortium show that while food sales picked up after a weak January, non-food sales slowed sharply. Consumers’ underlying uncertainty about jobs and incomes also appear to have resurfaced, hitting clothing, footwear and homewares particularly hard. Big-ticket purchases suffered most, though, and were often promotion-led.
“After the big boost to January’s figures from one-off factors, including a strong final burst of pre-VAT rise spending, February’s figures are a return to a more realistic picture of how things are for customers and retailers,” Stephen Robertson, director-general of the British Retail Consortium, said. Share this story