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 7th August 2008 Rate hold accepted by small businesses The Bank of England's decision to keep interest rates at the same level this month has been broadly accepted by small businesses in the country. Earlier today (August 7th) the Bank's monetary policy committee (MPC) opted to maintain interest rates at five per cent. While some retailers had hoped that the MPC would cut rates in a bid to kick-start consumer spending, most business groups accepted that inflationary fears were enough to justify the Bank's decision. The Confederation of British Indistry's director general, Richard Lambert, said that the Bank was "right to leave rates on hold for the time being". Although the British Retail Consortium's (BRC) Stephen Robertson acknowledged the MPC had a "difficult balancing act to achieve" and that today's decision was probably "the right one", he urged the committee to think about cuts in the near future. "The BRC and … retailers are saying weakening sales and record low consumer confidence show the downturn is deepening. "To avoid turning the slowdown into a slump, as soon as conditions allow, the Bank's next rate move should be down."     (c) 2008 Adfero Ltd. Sponsor of August Trade News Sony TV Brackets   Comment on this news story To comment on any story please click on the above link, put the story title in the subject line and please provide your name, trading style ie. retailer or wholesaler and the town where you trade.