SNIPPETS FROM RETAILSECTOR.CO.UK
RETAIL SALES
BREXIT
Retail sales
bounce back in
January
UK retail sales saw a year-on-year
increase of 4.8% in January, the highest
jump since December 2016.
Figures from the Office of National
Statistics (ONS) showed that sales
volumes rose by 1% following a 0.7%
decline in December. The average
store prices slowed to 0.4% year-on-
year, the lowest price increase since
November 2016.
Online retail didn’t perform as
well decreasing to 18.8% in January
2019, from the 19.8% reported in
December 2018.
The quantity bought in textile,
clothing and footwear stores showed
strong year-on-year growth at 5.5%
as stores took advantage of January
sales, with a year-on-year price fall of
0.9%. Although food store prices saw a
general slowdown in 2018, the quantity
bought in January 2019 returned to the
growth experienced in the summer
months at 3.2%.
ONS statistician, Rhian Murphy,
said: “Clothing stores saw strong sales,
luring consumers with price reductions,
with food sales also growing after a
slight dip after Christmas.”
HMRC
BRC hits out
at HMRC over
‘unreasonable’
pay rules
The British Retail Consortium (BRC)
has demanded HM Revenues and
Customs (HMRC) ceases action
March 2019 | jewelleryfocus.co.uk
Majority of
shoppers say
Brexit won’t
affect spending
against retailers who have breached
pay rules deemed “no longer fit for
purpose” by the trade body.
Retailers called the minimum
wage regulations and chasing from
the taxman “unreasonable” while
the regulations are under review
by ministers. The BRC said HMRC
targeted retailers who had accidentally
violated rules “too often” adding that
most of the retailers targeted had
taken “all reasonable steps to comply”.
In a letter to HMRC, the BRC argued
that it was inappropriate for tax
officials to chase retailers over cases
relating to salaried workers and salary
sacrifice schemes. At the start of the
year Iceland was hit with a £21m tax
bill over a Christmas saving scheme
which allowed workers to set aside a
proportion of their weekly wage to be
claimed back later.
Helen Dickinson, CEO at the BRC,
said in the letter: “The regulations,
now two decades old, are no longer
fit for purpose and it is right they are
under review. Against this backdrop, it
is unreasonable for HMRC to continue
to take enforcement action against
those employers who are operating
reasonable pay practices designed to
support colleagues.”
The HMRC said it enforced the pay
rules “in line with the law” and added
that it would not halt action against
companies which breached it.
A HMRC statement read: “We can
only enforce the law and the rules
as they stand now and are therefore
not in a position to pause or alter
enforcement activity on the basis that
there is an open consultation.
“Once the consultation closes,
the government will analyse and
assess the responses to decide what,
if any, action it wishes to take. It is
unlikely that any changes would apply
retrospectively.”
A survey of over 2,000 consumers
conducted by PwC has shown that
more than 60% of respondents said
Brexit will not and has not affected how
much they will spend for the year ahead.
The findings in PwC’s 2019 Retail
Outlook revealed respondents in the
north east of the country were the
least concerned, with 70% saying their
spending habits will be unaffected
by Brexit. Londoners are the most
concerned, with 41% saying they have
already changed their spending, and a
further 14% saying they will do in 2019.
For those consumers who said they
would change their spending as a result
of Brexit, half said they would buy less,
and a third said they would postpone
big ticket purchases.
The report also showed a period of
continued slow or no growth for UK
retailers, with those looking to succeed
needing a strategy to steal market share.
According to PwC’s latest economic
forecasts, UK GDP is expected to grow
1.4% this year. However, growth in all
three of the world’s major trading blocs
- China, the US and the Eurozone are
expected to slow.
Real earnings are projected to
continue increasing and alongside
a slowdown in retail price inflation,
PwC said this has “put more money
in shoppers’ pockets”. The latest ONS
estimates found retail sales grew by
4.3% between November 2018 and
January 2019 compared with the
previous year.
PwC added that UK retailers were
having to adjust to the ‘new normal’ of a
subdued trading environment, meaning
the only way to achieve growth was by
taking market share and adapting to
the more conscientious shopper.
JEWELLERY FOCUS
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