Britain’s shopkeepers and big retailers have welcomed a relatively busy start to the summer with falling pump prices encouraging drivers to fill up their tanks, and sales of summer clothes up thanks to warm weather.
The average price of diesel fell by 12p a litre in May – the largest drop seen by the RAC since it began tracking fuel prices in 2000. RAC data showed diesel fell from £1.59 to £1.47 a litre last month, dropping slightly further in recent weeks. Meanwhile, a litre of petrol is now around £1.44 – down from a high of around £1.91 a year ago.
On Monday, Next, the high street fashion giant, felt obliged to put out an unscheduled trading update following better than expected sales.
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The Leicestershire-based retailer said trading for the last seven weeks was up more than 9 per cent on the same period last year – after stating in May that it had expected sales would be down 5 per cent year-on-year.
Next said it now expected sales for its full financial year to be 1.4 per cent up – after previously expecting them to be 1.5 cent down.
New data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed overall that retail sales volumes rose 0.3 per cent in May, better than the 0.2 per cent drop that economists had forecast.
The figures measure the amount bought – volume – rather than the amount spent – value. Petrol stations sold 1.7 per cent more still in May following a 1.7 per cent drop in April. That was still 9.5 per cent below pre-Covid levels.
May’s overall 0.3 per cent rise was still a slowdown from the 0.5 per cent increase in retail sales volume seen in April.
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The poor performers included food shops – continuing a trend where people buy less but pay more, with sales dropping by 0.5 per cent.
The ONS said there was some evidence that might have been affected by people ordering takeaways over the coronation bank holiday.
Since May last year the amount of food people bought has dropped below pre-pandemic times, and has been going down as prices soared.
ONS senior statistician Heather Bovill said: “Retail sales grew a little in May, with online shops doing particularly well selling outdoor goods and summer clothes, as the sun began to shine.
“May also saw a return to growth for fuel sales after a dip in April.
“Garden centres and DIY stores also saw growth, as the good weather encouraged people to start home and garden improvements.
“These were offset by food sales, which fell back as prices in supermarkets continued to rise, exacerbated by many people ordering takeaways and drinking out more during the extra bank holidays, while jewellery and art also fell back after a strong April.”