With the UK mired in a protracted cost of living crisis, the last thing the retail sector needed was a spell of extreme weather.
The industry has found growth hard to come by over the last year and a half as consumers have struggled in the face of surging inflation, which remains well above the Bank of England’s long-term target of 2%, and increasingly high interest rates.
So, when Storm Babet struck last month, it was probably the last thing retailers needed. The extreme weather, which caused devastation and led to loss of life in the north-east of Scotland, caused people to stay away from the shops, with figures published by the Scottish Retail Consortium today revealing a sharp fall in footfall.
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“Scotland was battered by repeated and prolonged storms in October,” said director David Lonsdale. “Unsurprisingly, the appalling conditions and repeated deluges and disruption exerted a heavy toll on shopper footfall, which slumped to its weakest monthly performance of 2023.”
Coming on top of the difficult economic conditions, retailers (and indeed hospitality operators) would have been cursing their luck at the meteorological outlook, which took a turn for the worse again with the arrival of Storm Ciaran in recent days.
With even the weather not on the side of the retail industry, it was certainly no surprise to hear Kris Hamer, director of insight at the British Retail Consortium, call today for support for the sector from Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt when he unveils the Autumn Statement, and when the Scottish Budget is announced in September.
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Mr Hamer declared government ministers must not increase the regulatory burden on the industry given the huge economic pressures it continues to face and hopes they can provide some respite by not increasing the poundage or multiplier, the respective figures used in Scotland and England to calculate business rates.
Should retailers get their wish, Christmas would certainly have come early for this hard-hit sector.
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