‘Painfully slow’ High St recovery

SCOTLAND’S high streets are suffering a ‘painfully slow’ recovery from lockdown, retail leaders have warned.

New figures yesterday showed retail sales decreased by 7.5 per cent last month compared with August last year.

It is the sixth month in a row where there has been an annual decline – but slightly less than 8.3 per cent in July, 18.6 per cent in June and 27.6 per cent in May.

David Lonsdale, director of the Scottish Retail Consortium, said: ‘Six months on from the start of the pandemic, the revival of retail is painfully slow and protracted.

‘The recovery in stores witnessed over recent months petered out in August, with Scottish retail sales now having fallen for six months in a row compared to the same period last year.

‘Any hopes of a return to growth, or even better a modest clawback of lost sales from the earlier part of the pandemic, will have been thwarted by this latest data.

‘The past six months have been bruising for the industry, and even with the crucial Christmas trading period coming in to view the near-term outlook remains uncertain.

‘Much of the industry continues to suffer from a protracted weakness in demand, particularly those more reliant on the hustle and bustle of high footfall locations in our city centres and shopping malls.’

Food sales were up 1.5 per cent against the same month last year. Non-food sales were down 15.1 per cent but, when adjusted for the estimated effect of online sales, the figures change to a 1.7 per cent fall.

Paul Martin, KPMG UK head of retail, said: ‘August’s figures reinforce the overwhelming challenges facing Scotland’s high streets. All eyes will be on the autumn period. As coronavirus cases rise and the furloughing of staff eases off, there are fears the industry could face even greater challenges ahead.’