Hold on spending 'short-term trend'

Friday, May 14th 2010

Britons may be spending less money at present, but this is not likely to last as a long-term trend.

Craig Phillipson, managing director of Shopworks UK, called this spell "a spot of short-term nervousness", which could be a result of uncertainty concerning debt problems in Greece.

April's retail sales monitor from the British Retail Consortium and KPMG revealed a 2.3 per cent drop in sales compared with last year.

The general election could also have had a role in this lack of decisiveness, Mr Phillipson commented.

"I would like to think it has just been a month of a dearth of activity for those reasons," he added.

When asked what the new government could do to stimulate activity on the high street, Mr Phillipson admitted to being unsure of concrete ways to end austerity.

Value added tax is expected to increase, which could make it difficult to encourage Britons to spend, he noted.