UK now set for ‘double-dip recession’

THE third English lockdown looks set to put the UK on course for a double-dip recession in the first quarter after a “strikingly downbeat” end to 2020, according to a report.

A survey by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) found nearly half of all firms (43%) saw sales fall in the final three months of 2020, rising to more than three-quarters (79%) in the hammered hospitality and catering sector.

This compares with 66% of hospitality and catering firms in the third quarter. Its quarterly economic survey revealed the toll taken on consumer-facing firms from the November lockdown, with the new restrictions adding to their misery. Some 26% of the 6,203 firms polled for the survey reported rising sales, while 30% said there was no change.

Suren Thiru, head of economics at the BCC, said: “These results indicate that economic activity was strikingly downbeat in the final quarter of 2020... a new national lockdown means that a significant double-dip recession in the first quarter of this year is looking increasingly likely.”