General UK retail outlook improving
For the first time in two and a half years the general UK retail performance has improved. However, unless something changes the second quarter of 2013 is set to “flat line”, according to the Retail Think Tank.
Following its quarterly meeting in April, the KPMG/Ipsos Retail Think Tank (RTT) reported that the downward trajectory that has plagued UK retail since the start of 2011 finally turned around in quarter one of 2013, although a significant increase in the health of UK retailing is unlikely to arrive any time soon. The RTT’s Retail Health Index improved one point to 77 points, thanks to a marginal lift in demand, which would have been better still had it not been for the prolonged extension of wintry weather throughout the whole quarter.