UK retail sales impacted by February storms

Retail sales in February were affected by three major storms that led like-for-like sales to edge down 0.4% year-on-year.

According to figures from the British Retail Consortium and KPMG in their monthly sales monitor, this compares to an increase of 2.6% in the corresponding period last year.

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Meanwhile, total sales edged up just 0.1% compared to an uplift of 3.2% in February 2019.

The BRC said storms Ciara, Dennis and Jorge all took their toll with fashion sales taking the biggest hit.

Helen Dickinson, BRC chief executive, added: “Despite many indicators suggesting a rise in confidence among UK shoppers in recent months, this has failed to translate into higher retail sales. However, the end of the month saw a slight rise in spending on food and healthcare as a result of concerns around coronavirus.”

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