January bargains pull in spenders
THE January sales got off to flying start, with the number of bargain-hunters visiting shopping centres well up on a year ago.
Retail monitor FootFall said there were 2.4% more visitors to Britain's biggest retail centres last week than in the same week a year ago.
The news will raise hopes that after a slow start, consumers have been lured back by sales discounts.
It will also reinforce expectations of rising interest rates, although the Bank of England is thought likely to leave the cost of borrowing at 3.75% tomorrow.
FootFall marketing manager David Smyth warned, however, that retailers' relief may prove short-lived. 'Activity will be under pressure as credit card bills start to drop through people's doors and the harsh realities of the total cost of the Christmas period are realised,' he said.
For December as a whole, there were 1.5% fewer shoppers than last year. 'The late final rush did pull back a lot of ground, but was not enough to bring this up to last year's levels,' Smyth said.
Meanwhile, a separate survey revealed that increasing demand for staff as the economy recovers is driving up wages. The report from the Recruitment & Employment Confederation and Deloitte showed salaries in December rose at the fastest rate for two and a half years.
The pick-up coincided with more staff being hired than at any time since July 2000, adding to expectations of an interest rate rise.
