We’ve been through the Holiday period, Enjoyed and slept off the many indulgences of the season and now we’re all rolling to the close of January, the 1st month of 2014 and today, the much vaunted ‘Blue Monday’ supposedly the most depressing Monday of the whole year.
However, I think that recent details from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has issued some really quite pleasing details.
First and foremost, UK small business retail has seen a growth of 8.1% during December, dwarfing the growth seen in much larger industries. Now more than any recent period being a retailer running a small business is a good time to be in business.
This isn’t to say that there isn’t a bad side of the coin, Here at the Forbes Burton offices we’ve been quite busy through January taking on clients which have come to the conclusion that 2014 is the time their business has to close down. Overall business is booming have a look at some of these little information snippets from the ONS
- Non-seasonally adjusted data show that small stores experienced higher growth year-on-year than large stores with the amount spent in small stores increasing by 8.1% compared with 2.6% in large stores.
- All store types saw an increase in the quantity bought but perhaps most notable is the record month-on-month increase in the quantity bought at department stores of 8.7%.
- Internet sales data shows that the proportion of sales made on-line accounted for 11.8% of all retail sales (excluding automotive fuel).
One in ten retail sales being made on-line, and smaller retailers really shining, this is certainly not a blue Monday. The charts behind all the data shows an upward growth with no real sign of it falling or slowing.
While all of that is great news, as I had mentioned above, there are still companies which have to close their doors and we’re always ready to assist. If you are running a business that may need to rethink how to approach 2014, don’t be afraid to get in touch with us, we’re here to help.
Here’s hoping the rest of 2014 is as positive as December and January have been!
