Confidence slide hits retail sales

Britons are holding off from buying big-ticket items such as furniture and carpets as fragile consumer confidence takes its toll on retail sales. Like-for-like sales, which exclude new shop openings, fell by 1.1% in March compared with the same month last year and rose by 0.1% compared with the same month two years ago, the latest report by the British Retail Consortium and KPMG, the accounting group, said. Total sales fell by 0.5% year-on-year and rose by 0.9% on two years ago. Helen Dickinson, the chief executive of the BRC, said: “Retail sales slowed in March, even when the Easter distortions were accounted for, as greater uncertainty caused people to hold off from splashing out. “Brexit continues to feed the uncertainty among consumers. For the sake of everyone, MPs must rally behind a plan of action that avoids no deal – and quickly – or it will be ordinary families who suffer as a result of higher prices and less choice on the shelves.” Click here for the full Times article (£) Click here for the full Guardian article Click here for the full FT article (£)