April showers dampen high street trade

 April showers dampen high street trade

If you thought April was a quiet month for retail business, you were not alone.
UK retail sales fell to their lowest level in a decade during April, reported the British Retail Consortium.
Trade worsened across the board with total sales falling from 4 per cent in March to 2.6 per cent in April.
'April was a tough month for retailers and while the drop is partly exaggerated by the comparison with April 2004, when Easter fell, the like for like figure is the worst on record since 1995,' said BRC director general Kevin Hawkins.
'Some stores enjoyed stronger sales on warmer days,' he continued, 'but this was short-lived and sales in most sectors suffered. A slowing housing market, pre-election economic uncertainty and the continuing threat of interest rate rises dominated consumer confidence in April.'