Storms blow in better news for retail sales

HOPES for a recovery on the high street received a further lift today as new figures showed a rise in clothing sales, boosted by shoppers snapping up winter clothing.

The upbeat BDO high street sales tracker for September follows news of a 26.5 per cent jump in weekly sales at department store group John Lewis as customers bought coats and boots to beat the early autumn chill.

The fierce storms that lashed the country at the end of last month sparked a rush for warmer clothing, pushing fashion sales up 3 per cent compared with September 2011, noted accountancy firm BDO. Sales had been affected last year by the Indian summer weather, which saw temperatures in some parts of the UK hit 28C.

Non-fashion grew by 7 per cent year-on-year, buoyed by strong performances in gifts and leisure, beauty and luxury sales.

The only category to miss out on the spending growth was homewares, which dipped by 
5.3 per cent as the housing market continued to struggle.

Don Williams, national head of retail and wholesale at BDO, said: “These figures are being compared against a relatively weak 2011, but the predicted Olympic afterglow seems to have helped boost sales everywhere apart from homewares. The autumnal weather has certainly provided a welcome fillip for fashion sales, too.”

He added: “Next month’s figures will give us a better idea of how strong the recovery is, but we expect growth to remain positive in the run-up to Christmas.”