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 Retailers report footfall continues to decline as consumers cut back A new report has warned that small retailers across the UK are likely to find the coming 12 months very slow, as consumers feel the pinch of the credit crunch. Experian's latest National Footfall Index suggests that the number of shoppers visiting the high street slumped 2.6 per cent in July when compared to the same months in 2007, Reuters reported. While consumer footfall was up 2.7 per cent compared to June, Experian said that it expects the ongoing economic climate to make business very hard for retailers in the coming months. "Even with oil prices coming off a recent high, consumers will be squeezed by high petrol and food prices, rising home heating bills come winter and the continuation of the credit crunch until well into 2009," Experian's Matthew Sherwood told the news agency. "We forecast that sales volumes will contract in July to September, the first such fall since early 2006. "The next 12 months are shaping up to be the slowest period for retailers since the early 1990s." However, the British Retail Consortium recently stressed that it did not believe the UK would enter a recession in the coming year.   (c) 2008 Adfero Ltd. Sponsor of August Trade News Ultraslim 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.