High street fights to boost sales
SPENDING on the UK’s high streets has continued to slow – with retail giants Marks and Spencer and Debenhams announcing one day pre-Christmas sales to entice customers.
Figures released show that sales on UK’s high streets fell by 0.1% in October, down for a second month in a row, Office for National Statistics’ data showed.
The fall was much less than the 0.9% drop that most analysts had expected after sales fell by 0.4% in September.
Annual growth rose to 1.9% from 1.7% in September
Other retailers – including Arcadia Group which includes the Dorothy Perkins, Wallis, Evans and Burtonshave stores – have opted to hold pre-Christmas sales in a bid to boost spending at what should be their busiest time of year.
Marks & Spencer saw like-for-like sales fall 6.1% in the 13 weeks to September, while Arcadia experienced a 2.8% drop from 2007.
The figures were released amid speculation that troubled retailer Woolworths may be about to sell its stores arm for just £1.
The chain has suffered as the economic slowdown has hit consumer spending.
In August it rejected a takeover bid of £50m for its 815 stores from a group headed by the founder of the Iceland frozen food chain, Malcolm Walker.
Woolworths has been a presence on the UK High Street since its first shop opened in Liverpool in 1909. It also has a distribution business and a DVD publishing business.
Retailers are desperately hoping that the decision by the Bank of England to slash interest rates from 4.5% to 3% at the start of the month will give a significant boost to sales in the vital pre-Christmas shopping period.
Rising unemployment has also dented consumer confidence.
