UK retailers report gloomy run-up to Christmas, CBI says

LONDON (Reuters) – British retailers reported a weak run-up to the Christmas holidays with gross sales falling once more and companies worrying about increased prices in 2025, the Confederation of British Trade stated on Friday.

The CBI’s month-to-month retail gross sales headline stability improved solely marginally to -15 in December from -18 in November. It had additionally contracted in October.

“Retailers have endured a dismal festive interval,” CBI Principal Economist Martin Sartorius stated. “Trying forward, retailers anticipate gross sales to fall once more in January, whereas wholesalers and motor merchants are braced for sharper gross sales declines.”

The CBI’s measure of anticipated gross sales for January picked as much as -11 from -29 however remained in unfavourable territory.

Insurance policies within the new authorities’s first price range introduced on Oct. 30 will push up employment prices subsequent 12 months. Employers should pay increased social safety contributions from April, when Britain’s minimal wage is because of rise by virtually 7%.

Official retail knowledge for November revealed earlier on Friday confirmed solely a small pick-up in gross sales development after a pointy fall in October within the run-up to the price range.

Sartorius stated the federal government ought to velocity up an overhaul of the enterprise charges tax charged on most non-domestic properties and broader reforms to spice up development within the financial system.

The CBI survey was based mostly on responses from 72 retail chains and 92 wholesalers between Nov. 25 and Dec. 12.