UK retail sales spark in warm weather

UK retail sales strengthened last week, industry data showed on Friday, as the warm weather helped boost demand for clothing.

According the latest BDO High Street Sales Tracker, total like-for-like sales rose 2.95% in the week ending 11 June, compared to a rise of 7.63% in the same week a year previously. It was the second consecutive week of sales growth, following a fortnight of negative data.

In-store sales rose 5.39%, while non-store sales jumped 6.56%

Leading the increase was fashion, with like-for-like sales ahead 5.07%. Lifestyle sales also rose, by 1.7%, but homewares declined 2.27%, the eighteenth negative result for the category so far this year.

BDO said that footfall was 4.2% stronger compared to the same week in 2022, with high streets seeing the best growth, up 5.4% year-on-year. Retail parks and shopping centres saw footfall improve by 2.1% and 3.8% respectively.