Sector: Retail

Retail sales in London rebounded in February, with a like-for-like surge of almost 10 per cent, driven by a drop in the value of sterling. This encouraging rise followed a poor start to the year, as arctic conditions across the UK kept shoppers behind closed doors in their droves.

London proved a retail bright spot, however, since across the UK, sales were only up by an average of 2.2 per cent during the month, according to statistics released by the British Retail Consortium (BRC).

The plummeting value of the pound appears to have made London’s stores far more attractive to foreign visitors, with the capital encountering a noticeable rise in the number of Chinese shoppers visiting its stores, with visitors from Western Europe and the Middle East also showing a marked increase.

Further interesting trends included a pick-up in clothing and footwear sales, as people splashed out in order to combat the cold, although food sales experienced a dip, as lots of households had already stocked up in January in response to freezing conditions.

‘This is a strong bounce-back for sales after winter weather put many people off shopping in January,’ explained Stephen Robertson, director general of the BRC.