London retail sales up 6.5% on year

Despite all the doom and gloom, retail sales in London have been boosted by heavy discounting which has attracted not just local shoppers but shoppers from the US and the euro zone, lured by the weakness of the pound.

Retail sales in the capital in January were 6.5% higher compared with the same period a year ago, on a like-for-like basis. The rise outperformed the UK as a whole which recorded an increase of 1.1%.

While the rise in London retail sales ended four consecutive months of declines, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) cautioned that the rise does not indicate a return of consumer confidence.

Furthermore, the bad weather over the last couple of weeks is also likely to have an affect on this month’s sales.