Britain on Friday published retail sales data that added to its economic gloom and offered no respite for the government, which suffered fresh vote setbacks overnight.
Retail sales slid 0.9 per cent in September, the Office for National Statistics said in a statement.
"Retail sales fell notably in September, with retailers telling us that cost-of-living pressures are influencing consumers, particularly for sales of non-essential goods," added ONS chief economist Grant Fitzner.
"It was a poor month for clothing stores as the warm autumnal conditions reduced sales of colder weather gear," he added.
The often-volatile retail sales had grown 0.4 per cent in August.
Looking at the quarterly picture, sales volumes fell by 0.8 per cent in the three months to September 2023 when compared with the previous three months.
Food stores sales volumes rose by 0.2 per cent in September, following a rise of 1.4 per cent in August. However, volumes fell by 1.3 per cent in the three months to September from the previous three months, and when compared with their pre-pandemic February 2020 levels, food stores sales volumes were down 3.7 per cent.
Non-food stores sales volumes fell by 1.9 per cent, and online retail sales volumes by 2.2 per cent in September.
A separate survey showed consumer confidence plunging in Britain.
GfK's Consumer Confidence Index slumped nine points to minus 30 in October, the level seen in July last year.
"This sharp fall underlines that the cost-of-living crisis, and simply not having enough money to make ends meet, are still exerting acute pressure for many consumers," said Joe Staton, client strategy director at GfK.
Official data this week showed British annual inflation remaining elevated, prolonging the cost-of-living crisis and stoking fears that UK interest rates could stay higher for longer.
The Consumer Prices Index held at 6.7 per cent last month, the highest level in the G7 grouping of rich nations.
A Rossendale shop has had a licence bid rejected after repeatedly selling vapes to children and having illegal products on its premises.
Management at the Ibra Superstore at 34 Burnley Road, Bacup, have shown ‘no regard’ for children’s protection and safety, and have insufficient controls for licensing, Rossendale councillors have ruled.
Ibrahim Mohammad, director of the Ibra Superstore, had recently applied to Rossendale Council for a new premises licence. But the borough’s licensing sub-committee rejected his bid after a meeting which heard allegations from the police and trading standards officers.
The Burnley Road shop has been subject to various licensing changes and concerns in recent years. In the past, it was called Bacup Wines.
Ibrahim Mohammad, the applicant, attended the Rossendale licensing sub-committe meeting with his father,Amin Mohammad. Also there was PC Mick Jones, of Lancashire Constabulary, and Jason Middleton of Lancashire Trading Standards. Councillor Bob Bauld attended as an observer.
Mr Mohammad wanted a premises license for alcohol sales and opening hours from 8am to 11pm, seven days a week. He already had a personal licence. He said the Bacup shop would install a CCTV system, keep an incident log and a refusals record, check customers’ ages, display information about staff and give them regular training.
Trading standards officer Jason Middleton said Ibra Superstore Ltd was incorporated as a company in April 2023. Since then, trading standards had received 11 complaints about under-age sales and carried out visits.
Breaches included non-compliant vapes being found which broke a 2ml limit on the quantity of nicotine-containing liquid, no age checks and no information on display.
During one visit, Amin Mohammad tried to leave with a bag containing 10 illegal vapes. In test purchases by trading standards, an ‘Elf Bar’ vape was sold to a 14-year-old by Amin Mohammad and an illegal Hayati Pro Max vape to a 13-year-old by Ibrahim Mohammad. The shop claimed a phone call distracted staff during the 13-year-old’s purchase and illegal vapes came from ‘a man in car’.
Councillors heard different speakers, looked at written reports and also some video footage from the applicant. But they rejected the premises licence bid.
Giving their reasons, they stated: “There was a repeated history and pattern of behaviour regarding under-age sales of age-restricted items, such as tobacco products and vapes to children. You must not sell vapes to anyone under the age of 18. This is a criminal offence which the council takes very seriously.
“It is clear you breached the law by failing a test purchase operation in which you sold an illegal vape to an under-age child. The sub-committee feels that you have no regard to the protection and safety of children.
“The sub-committee feels that there is insufficient management control at the premises. There is no credible system to prevent under-age sales of age-restricted products and no measures in place to avoid harm to children and to prevent crime and disorder
“Therefore, given the number of incidents, the circumstances surrounding the incidents and the fact that the matter involves safeguarding issues relating to young, vulnerable minors, we consider that the seriousness of the incidents and the crimes committed against young children undermines the licensing objectives to prevent crime and disorder, and protect children from harm.”
The shop has the right of appeal to a magistrates court within 21 days of the date of the notice.
SPAR North of England retailer Dara Singh Randhawa’s family store has been awarded £100,000 of free stock after hitting all his targets since moving to the symbol.
Dara and his family, who have their SPAR store in Patrington in the East Riding of Yorkshire, joined SPAR through its association with James Hall & Co. Ltd in August 2023 having taken the decision to maximise the store’s potential.
It is a decision they have not looked back on, with sales increasing by up to 25% and margins also showing significant uplift in the last 12 months.
Key to the store’s improved performance is the complete overhaul of products available in-store, particularly the fresh food range, to better support people who live in Patrington and the surrounding area.
A new store layout and refrigeration, better Food To Go and meal deal options, a coffee machine, and a Calippo slush machine were also installed during a major refurbishment prior to launch.
Dara said: “Our move to SPAR has been excellent. We have seen fantastic sales uplift and the support from the team at James Hall & Co. Ltd has been brilliant. The £100,000 of free stock is the cherry on the cake.
“We have been very impressed with the Price Locked promotions, in particular. These give customers confidence to do bigger shops with us as they see value on our shelves and the products at the same prices for longer.
“At times over the summer when tourists and visitors to the area add trade, we have seen sales £6,000 a week higher than our average. This is against a backdrop of the popular caravan park in the village being closed almost all year.
“We are really pleased with the position we are in, and we will be looking to achieve more in 2025.”
Peter Dodding, Sales Director at James Hall & Co. Ltd and Chairman of the SPAR Northern Guild, said: “Congratulations to Dara and the Randhawa family on hitting their targets and earning £100,000 of free stock.
“We recognise switching brand is a big decision for a retailer which is why this isn’t a gimmick, and we offer this to all retailers who join the SPAR family with James Hall & Co. Ltd.
“As well as our £100,000 incentive, we also offer retailers the chance to achieve up to an additional £5,000 of free stock if they successfully refer a friend.
“These opportunities provide additional motivation to retailers alongside the comprehensive benefits that joining the SPAR brand brings with it.”
James Hall & Co. Ltd is a fifth-generation family business which serves a network of independent SPAR retailers and company-owned SPAR stores across Northern England six days a week from its base at Bowland View in Preston.
The government has on Wednesday announced its acceptance of the Low Pay Commission’s (LPC) recommendations on the rates of the National Minimum Wage (NMW), including the National Living Wage (NLW).
The rates which will apply from 1 April 2025 are as follows:
NMW Rate
Increase (£)
Percentage increase
National Living Wage (21 and over)
£12.21
£0.77
6.7
18-20 Year Old Rate
£10.00
£1.40
16.3
16-17 Year Old Rate
£7.55
£1.15
18.0
Apprentice Rate
£7.55
£1.15
18.0
Accommodation Offset
£10.66
£0.67
6.7
The recommended NLW rate is expected to equal two-thirds of median earnings and to have the highest real value in the history of the UK’s minimum wage. The increase in the 18-20 Year Old Rate narrows the gap between that and the NLW, in anticipation of the adult rate being extended to 18 year olds in future years.
“The government have been clear about their ambitions for the National Minimum Wage and its importance in supporting workers’ living standards. At the same time, employers have had to deal with the adult rate rising over 20 per cent in two years, and the challenges that has created alongside other pressures to their cost base,” Baroness Philippa Stroud, chair of the LPC, said.
“It is our job to balance these considerations, ensuring the NLW provides a fair wage for the lowest-paid workers while taking account of economic factors. These rates secure a real-terms pay increase for the lowest-paid workers. Young workers will see substantial increases in their pay floor, making up some of the ground lost against the adult rate over time.”
Stroud admitted that the data show some signs of employers finding it harder to adapt to minimum wage increases.
“The tightening of the labour market since the pandemic has unwound, but the overall picture is similar to 2019. The economy is expected to grow over the next year, although productivity growth remains subdued,” she noted.
Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said:
Good work and fair wages are in the interest of British business as much as British workers. This government is changing people’s lives for the better because we know that investing in the workforce leads to better productivity, better resilience and ultimately a stronger economy primed for growth.
The recommended increase in the 16-17 Year Old Rate restores that rate to its original value relative to the adult minimum wage. In line with previous recommendations, the Apprentice Rate will remain equal to the 16-17 Year Old Rate.
SPAR UK has announced the appointment of Michael Fletcher as its new managing director.
Fletcher spent 22 years at Tesco plc, where he held numerous senior commercial roles in the UK, Ireland and Asia. He joined Co-op Retail in 2013 where he held the position of chief commercial officer before moving on to become CEO of Nisa Wholesale, a role he held until 2022.
Since leaving Nisa, Fletcher has taken on several non-executive director and board advisory roles. He is also the founder and chief executive of Sleet Brush Limited, where he focuses on designing and implementing innovative solutions to complex retail and wholesale challenges.
“Michael has outstanding credentials in commercial, retail and FMCG sectors, with experience across various trading environments,” Nick Bunker, non-executive chair, SPAR Food Distributors Ltd, said.
“His professional capabilities and high standards consistently drive excellent business performance and operational resilience. We are delighted with his appointment and look forward his lasting and positive contribution to the SPAR business.”
Fletcher added: “SPAR is a globally recognised and respected brand, and I am thrilled to join the team. I look forward to supporting the ongoing strengthening and development of the SPAR proposition in the UK.”
Independent retailers are demanding tougher police action, more bobbies on the beat and harsher punishments as shoplifting levels reach an all-time high, a new survey reveals.
A whopping ninety-one per cent of respondents to a survey conducted by the Federation of Independent Retailers (the Fed) called for more police patrols on streets, while a similar number - 90 per cent - said that shoplifters should be handed harsher sentences.
Seven out of 10 respondents (72 per cent) said their stores had experienced shoplifting, break ins and damage to property, while they and their staff had been physically or verbally threatened.
Just under half of respondents (47 per cent) said they and their employees had been threatened or had suffered abuse and violence when asking for proof of age ahead of selling an age-restricted product.
Forty-four per cent reported that they and their staff had faced abuse or violence because they had refused to make a proxy sale – selling an age restricted product to a customer buying for a minor.
The results of the Fed’s survey came as new figures from the Office of National Statistics revealed that shoplifting was at a record high, with almost half a million offences recorded last year.
According to the ONS, 469,788 offences were logged by forces in the year to June 2024 – a 29 per cent increase on the previous 12 months.
The ONS added that this figure was the highest since records began – in March 2003.
“Inadequate responses from the police and a slap on the wrist for offenders means that shoplifting is soaring, and offenders are becoming more aggressive and brazen,” said Fed National President Mo Razzaq.
“From the responses we received, it is clear that real action is needed by police, by courts and by the government to stem the overwhelming tide of crime against retailers and their staff. Everyone deserves to feel safe at work and for their businesses to be protected against criminals.
“Fed members are also sending a clear message that one of the catalysts for verbal and physical abuse in stores is asking for proof of age before selling an age restricted product. If the government presses ahead with its plans to phase out smoking and vaping through a progressive ban to gradually end the sale of tobacco products across the country, independent retailers will be subject to even greater levels of violence, abuse and theft.”
Calling for action from the government and not just words, Mr Razzaq continued: “Without effective deterrent, criminals and opportunistic members of the public will continue to commit crimes.”
According to Ministry of Justice statistics, during the year to March 2024, 431 fines were handed out for retail theft under £100, while Home Office statistics for the same period show that 2,252 cautions were accepted for shoplifting.