High street suffers worst February in a decade - BDO

There was little love for the British high street last month, as retailers suffered their worst February for a decade, data published on Friday showed.

According to the BDO High Street Sales Tracker, in-store like-for-like sales fell 3.7% in February, against a 1.6% decline in the same month a year earlier. This was despite Valentine’s Day, half term and a spell of warm weather – all traditional incentives for shoppers – all falling in the month.

BDO called it was “the worst February figures for in-store sales since 2009”.

Sales of homewares nudged 0.4% higher, but fashion sales fell 3.5% year-on-year while lifestyle sales declined 4.9% – the thirteenth consecutive month of negative sales and the worst on record for the category.

Sophie Michael, head of retail and wholesale at BDO, said: “Consumer confidence is teetering on the precipice and shoppers are resisting unnecessary spend.

“It’s been a tough start to the year, and retailers are continuing to fill headlines with poor performances. Brexit uncertainty is proving to have disproportionate impact on discretionary spending and there’s an increasing sense of nervousness among retailers.

“As the March quarter rent date draws near, and hard on the heels of poor Christmas trading already reported, it will not be a surprise if we hear of more retail names announcing further structural changes as the sector realigns to this new retail world.”

Earlier this week, John Lewis Partnership reported a 45% slump in full year profits on sales that had risen just 1%, while rival Debenhams saw its shares tumble following its latest profit warning.

UK unemployment remains low while wages are on the up. But nervous consumers have reined in spending as uncertainty over Brexit continues. Business investment has also been curtailed.