Jump in spend on Black Friday

CONSUMER spending jumped on Black Friday, despite early signs shoppers had steered clear of the high street and some retailers launching their promotions well ahead of the annual event.

Spending was up 7pc on last year by 5pm, according to data from Barclaycard, which processes almost half of Britain’s debit and credit card transactions.

Many high street stalwarts slashed prices in the hope of drawing shoppers through their doors after sales fell at their sharpest rate since the financial crisis in September.

October also saw a considerable slowdown in consumer credit, according to data from UK Finance yesterday, with annual growth in credit card lending dropping from 5.5pc in September to 5.1pc. UK Finance warned that this slowing of credit card activity in particular looked set to continue, even into retailers’ crucial Christmas period.

Retailers have been divided over how to deal with Black Friday, which began in the US but has become a regular feature in the UK in recent years. Asda announced it would no longer participate in 2016 and declined to do so again this year. But Next, whose chief executive once branded Black Friday discounts “pointless”, slashed some prices by as much as 70pc this year.