Summer sunshine ‘will encourage people to spend’

Sunny weather will result in people spending more – which could create more debt concerns.

This is the suggestion of Joshua Bamfield, director of the Centre for Retail Research, who revealed that sales in the retail sector rose by 4.4 per cent in March.

The company’s – and KPMG’s – Retail Sales Monitor showed that like-for-like sales were up 2.1 per cent on average across the first quarter of 2010.

Mr Bamfield said that good weather will inspire consumers to hit the shops and enable the industry to sidestep uncertainty regarding the general election.

He commented that the primary reason is the fact that “the sun is shining, people are feeling a lot more confident, the world didn’t end last year and so [individuals] will carry on shopping”.

According to the report, Good Friday and Easter Sunday falling in the March trading period, as opposed to April in 2009, boosted the year-on-year comparison.

By Joe Shervin