British retail sales growth slowed in July despite the London Olympics, as a sunny spell towards the end of the month failed to make up for weeks of rain which put consumers off shopping, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC).
The BRC’s findings support other surveys and retailers’ reports, demonstrating that there was no Olympics boost in July and that growth seen the previous month declined.
UK retail sales values were up 0.1% on a like-for-like basis from July 2011, when they were up 0.6% on a year ago. On a total basis, sales were up 2.0%, against a 2.5% rise in July 2011, according to BRC. The value of total retail sales, a measure favoured by economists and closer to that found in official statistics, was 2.0 percent up on the year, after a 3.5 percent climb in June. “July was clearly not a golden month for retail.” said Stephen Robertson, Director General, British Retail Consortium.