More than six in 10, or 65 percent, of the United Kingdom's recreational goods retailers said sales grew in September, while none reported sales declines, according to the Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) latest monthly Distributive Trades Survey of 111 retail and wholesale firms.

 

The survey indicated overall U.K. retail sales in September grew at their fastest pace since June 2012, and exceeded already solid expectations. September marked the third consecutive month of growth retail sales growth in the U.K. with growth reported across a number of sectors. CBI saiid the survey indicates retailers and wholesalers expect retail sales to grow robustly again in October.


The pace of growth in wholesaling also picked up markedly, although sale growth slowed in the automobile sector from the pace seen in the previous two months. The U.K. is Europe’s second largest market for outdoor recreational goods after Germany, according to research from the European Outdoor Group.

“It’s encouraging to see the high street on the road to recovery, with particularly strong growth from furniture & carpet retailers, department stores and recreational goods retailers,” said Barry Williams, chief merchandising officer for food, at Asda and Chair of the CBI Distributive Trades Survey Panel. “But the retail sector is not out of the woods yet with consumer confidence still fragile despite the rise in spending.”

Key findings of the survey include:


  • 46 percent of respondents reported that sales volumes were up on a year ago, while 12 percent said they were down, giving a balance of +34 percent – the strongest since June 2012 (+42 percent) and exceeding expectations (+26 percent)

  • Retailers expect sales volumes to grow at a similarly strong pace next month (+31 percent)

  • 52 percent of department stores said business volumes were up, while 0 percent said they were down, giving a balance of +52 percent

  • Overall, 22 percent of retailers said that sales volumes were above average for the time of year, while 10 percent said they were below average, giving a balance of +12 percent – the highest survey balance since December 2010 (+18 percent)

  • 36 percent placed more orders with suppliers than they did a year ago and 22 percent placed fewer, with the resulting balance of +14 percent.

Wholesalers
50 percent of wholesalers said sales volumes were up while 10 percent said they were down, giving a balance of +40 percent – the strongest pace of growth since June 2013 (+45 percent). Most sub-sectors saw growth, with building materials (+100 percent) and clothing, textiles & footwear (+56 percent) in the lead. Only food & drink saw a decline in sales (-13 percent), marking the first year-on-year fall since May.


Overall, sales are expected to rise solidly again in the year to October, but at a slower pace than this month (+28 percent).



The CBI conducted its survey between Aug. 28 and Sept. 11, when 111 firms, including 61 were retailers and 41 wholesalers, responded.