AUGUST TRADE NEWS Bad weather blamed for shopping centre delay Chester council  not supporting retailers New rules 'won't help save retail centre' Irish shoppers look abroad for bargains British consumers spend more on beauty products Yorkshire town gets behind plastic bag reduction scheme Rising obesity prompts calls for VAT rule changes eBay restructures fee scheme to make fixed-priced sales cheaper Online sales boom despite slowdown Music retailer goes out of business Matalan named and shamed for how it treats wholesalers BCC slams higher parking charges proposals Booming wholesaler moves to new warehouse Market traders told to only 'shout quietly' London's retailers show growth despite gloom Counterfeit goods dealer sentenced to prison UK's smallest town protests supermarket plan More retailers and wholesalers going out of business Online retail sector predicted to expand rapidly Henley retailers protest development plans Retail sales continue to slow Tiffany appeals US court's eBay ruling Report criticises electricity suppliers' treatment of small businesses MK retailers protest Tesco expansion plan Yorkshire retailers protest supermarket move Manchester wholesaler shut down over fraud worries Businesses welcome plans to reduce red tape Rate hold accepted by small businesses Internet sales put pressure on the high street Huge counterfeit goods haul in Somerset Irish entrepreneur online retail plans Wholesaler sector set to struggle Staycations could help British retailers Retailers 'gloomy' about economic outlook Retailers report footfall continues to decline as consumers cut back Hidden door reveals huge counterfeiting operation in Manchester shop No recession for the UK this year East London wholesaler goes into receivership London mayor reveals plans to support small retailers Toy retailers defy gloom Retailers urged to embrace online sales Trade News Archive August 08 July 08 June 08 May 08 April 08 March 08 February 08 January 08 Subscribe to our newsletter   Go to The Wholesaler UK Directory 4th August 2008 Business expert: No recession for the UK this year Despite reports to the contrary, a group that represents the interests of small retailers in the UK has said that it does not believe the country is heading for a full blown recession. Richard Dodd, a spokesperson for the British Retail Consortium (BRC), said that the organisation was still confident that the country would avoid a period of negative growth. Mr Dodd was commenting following the release of the Confederation of British Industry's latest Distributive Trades Survey which showed that many retailers were deeply concerned that their sales volumes had already declined this year and would continue to do so in the coming months. However, Mr Dodd said: "It is perfectly possible that we will see consumer spending growing more slowly than the overall economy and of course the growth of the overall economy is certainly slowing but we are not expecting to actually see the economy shrink this year or next." He also added that it was likely that small retailers dealing with luxury items would feel the most impact of any further economic slowdown. "Customers are very short of spare cash and are reluctant to spend on anything other than essentials," Mr Dodd explained. "Clothing ... has suffered quite severely along with the big ticket item sectors like furniture and large electrical." (c) 2008 Adfero Ltd.