Bank holidays fail to boost retail sector - BRC

UK retail sales growth slowed in May, industry data showed on Tuesday, despite a succession of bank holiday weekends.

According to the latest BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor, total retail sales increased by 3.9% in May, or by 3.7% on an underlying basis. That was an improvement on May 2022, when retail sales fell by 1.1% and 1.5% on an underlying basis.

But the growth was below the three-month average and notably lower than April, when sales rose by 5.1% or by 5.2% on a like-for-like basis.

Food sales increased by 9.8% in May on a like-for-like basis, while non-food sales nudged up just 0.5%.

Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said: "The trio of bank holidays failed to get shoppers spending, as sales growth slowed to its lowest level in six months.

"While food sales got a boost from the coronation weekend, this was not sustained for the rest of the month.

"With consumer confidence still recovering from record delays, and continued tightening of household incomes, we are unlikely to see substantial sales growth in the coming months."

Paul Martin, UK head of retail at KPMG, said: "Despite warmer weather, a national celebration and a month of bank holidays, retailers saw pretty mild growth in May.

"Retailers will be hoping that inflation levels in the wider economy continue to move in the right direction in order to boost much-needed consumer confidence. The wild card for the retail sector remains uncontrollable food inflation, which shows little sign of coming down in the near future, and is having a significant knock-on effect on non-essential spending."