More jobs but high street future gloomy

Stores hired more than 4,000 staff in the final three months of last year, figures today show, but retail experts warn the positive news “won’t last”.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said employment in the sector was up 0.5 per cent during the fourth quarter of 2011 compared to the same period a year earlier – the equivalent of 4,074 full-time jobs.

This growth, however, was driven by supermarkets and other food retailers and the BRC warned against false optimism.

The figures were collated before the recent flurry of administrations on the high street, the trade body said, and numbers were boosted by the fact retailers were taking on seasonal staff to cope with the Christmas rush.

In previous years, shops have tended to employ seasonal staff much earlier, from September onwards, but many delayed swelling their ranks until much later due to poor trading conditions.

The fourth-quarter figures were also bound to compare favourably with a disastrous three months over the summer, when the number of full-time retail jobs plunged by 23,000.

Stephen Robertson, director general of the BRC, said: “After a disturbing fall in overall retail employment in September last year, it’s a relief to see marginal improvement at the end of 2011.

“But there’s little to celebrate while the underlying labour market conditions remain so fragile, as we’ve seen in a flurry of post-Christmas administrations. This survey is being compared with a weak end to 2010 when severe snowfall hit retail badly and reduced the hours staff would’ve been working.”

Robertson said employment prospects had weakened going into 2012, with well known brands such as clothing chain Peacocks going to the wall. The proportion of retailers who said they would slash staffing levels over the coming months has risen to 38 per cent, up from 33 per cent this time last year.

However, optimism is higher in the food sector with the likes of Asda recently announcing it would create 5,000 jobs.

Christina Tolvas-Vincent, head of retail employment at business law firm Bond Pearce, which helped compile the research, said: “Seasonal hiring provided a glimmer of hope at the end of last year but sadly this won’t last. We have already seen a number of retailers enter administration since Christmas and there is no sign of any knight in shining armour.

“Retailers are also aware that consumers are likely to be tightening their belts for the next few months and this is going to squeeze them and their profit margins even further.”

The number of shops in the UK’s high streets and retail parks rose by 1 per cent in the last quarter of 2011 compared to 2010 – the equivalent of 528 outlets.