Sun fails to shine on British high street - BDO

Warm weather and the Easter holidays failed to draw out shoppers last month, according to a survey published on Friday, as UK retail sales continued to ease.

The monthly BDO High Street Sales Tracker found high street sales declined 0.4% in April compared to the same month a year earlier, when they fell 3.8%.

BDO said April marked the third month of in-store sales declines so far this year and “fifteen months of disappointing sales for the UK’s beleaguered high street”.

A change in weather traditionally sees consumers head to shops, largely to update wardrobes, while the Easter weekend often sees a spike in demand at gardening and home improvement outlets. However, fashion in-store sales declined by 0.8% while homeware in-store sales increased only marginally, by 0.6%.

Sophie Michael, head of retail and wholesale at BDO, said: “While a marginal drop in sales may not, on the face of it, seem significant, it has to be taken into the context of a low benchmark and, crucially, what should have been perfect shopping conditions last month.

“With record warm weather, Easter holidays and more Brits taking ‘staycations’, April should have been a bumper month for high street retailers. Instead these factors could not prevent further decline.”

The UK has high employment and wages are growing again following an extended period of stagnation. However, concerns about the impact of Brexit and the economy’s long-term strength continue to weigh on consumers.

“These are still not filtering through to spending,” said Michael. “Consumer confidence, a key driver for discretionary spend, continues to be at very low levels and is worsening fortunes for the high street.”

However, Michael also conceded that changing shopping habits – such as adopting a more ethical stance and buying less – could also be “playing a part of the consistently poor retail performance”.

The internet fared better than the high street last month, with non-store like-for-like sales growing by 18.3%.