Retail sales in the UK have had a welcome
boost thanks to the unseasonably warm weather that the country experienced in
March. Unique Client Solutions looks at the general recovery of the UK economy.
Like-for-like sales of the same period in
2011 saw an increase of 1.9 per cent according to the British Retail
Consortium. They also released figures which showed that online, mail order and
phone sales had increased by 13.9 per cent from a year ago, the best that have
been seen since over the Christmas period in December 2011. However, Unique Client Solutions warns that though the figures are certainly encouraging, they
are being compared to an “exceptionally weak” March 2011.
Unique Client Solutions was more encouraged by the news that the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
(OECD) had announced that they believed that both the UK and other areas of Europe had reached
a turning point in their recovery. The economists have said that both Britain and
Germany are showing “signs of positive change in momentum.”
A spokesperson for the Sheffield customer
acquisitions company said that both of these pieces of news suggest that the
economic recovery of the UK is heading in the right direction. “Although there
was the suggestion last month that we might head back into recession we were
relieved to hear that it appears the UK has narrowly avoided it. To hear just a month later that
we are finally turning the corner is very encouraging.”
Retail sales are normally a good indicator
of recovery in the country. The fact that Easter was early this year would inevitably
have aided the figures.
Unique Client Solutions is hopeful that
recovery will also help the unemployment figures in the UK as well as small
businesses. “The people that we have seen hardest hit are young job seekers and
small local businesses. We’re reported several times that youth unemployment
figures have been reaching record highs and that is incredibly discouraging for
young people who are trying to get a foot onto the career ladder."
Government incentives to encourage
businesses to take on younger people were launched last month and Unique Client Solutions are hopeful that this too will help to rectify the situation.
