Sunshine and sales bring out London shoppers

Sunny weather, a strong euro and promotions continued to ensure London retail sales beat the UK as a whole in May.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said on a like-for-like basis, retail sales in central London in May were 8.2 per cent higher than a year earlier, compared to a 1.9 per cent gain overall across the UK.

Western Europeans remained the main overseas shoppers, taking advantage of the strength of the euro, while Americans and Japanese are discouraged by the weak dollar and yen, the BRC said.

Clothing and footwear benefited from the warm weather, the BRC said, although home wares were still tough.

Stephen Robertson, director general of the British Retail Consortium, said: "Central London sales growth rose to its highest rate since February as summery weather finally arrived in early May.

Shopper numbers were up on a year ago thanks to sun and sales bargains. But it may be that central London gains were partly offset elsewhere as high petrol prices discouraged Londoners from travelling to shopping centres further afield.

"Consumer confidence continued to fall in London, though higher average incomes and more tourists meant the fall was less than for the UK as a whole."

Helen Dickinson, Head of Retail, KPMG, added: "Many have taken advantage of the tough economic backdrop to bring forward high levels of promotional activity to drive footfall and increase sales, such that the overall picture, on the face of it, appears pretty resilient.

"Whether this is sustainable and what the cost is to the margins of some of the retailers operating in central London will only become apparent in the coming months."

According to SPSL, footfall in central London was 11 per cent higher than in May 2007, when shopper numbers had fallen 2.5 per cent from May 2006.

The warm, sunny first half of the month – especially when compared to the very wet May 2007 – brought shoppers out to buy summer goods.

Special discount events and early starts to some clearance sales were an added attraction, while high petrol prices may have discouraged out-of-town shopping trips. Footfall remained stronger than in the UK as a whole, where it rose 2.2 per cent above its year-earlier level.