Britain's recovering housing market – and the consequent rise of sales of furniture and flooring – is having a positive impact on high street retail, according to the CBI’s latest monthly Distributive Trades Survey of 111 firms.
High-street sales continued to grow strongly in the year to September at the fastest pace since June 2012, reports the CBI, exceeding already solid expectations.
This was the third consecutive month of growth, which was broad-based across a number of sectors. Retail sales are expected to grow robustly again in October.
Elsewhere, the pace of growth in wholesaling picked up markedly, whereas growth continued in the motor trade sector, but at a slower pace than in the previous two months.
Barry Williams, Asda chief merchandising officer for food, and chair of the CBI Distributive Trades Survey Panel, says: “It’s encouraging to see the high street on the road to recovery, with particularly strong growth from furniture and carpet retailers, department stores and recreational goods retailers.
“But the retail sector is not out of the woods yet, with consumer confidence still fragile despite the rise in spending.”
