By Suban Abdulla
LONDON (Reuters) – British shoppers increased their spending moderately in annual terms last month despite industry concerns about tax rises in finance minister Rachel Reeves’ upcoming budget and a looming rise in household energy bills, a survey showed on Tuesday.
The British Retail Consortium said spending in shops increased by 2.0% in annual terms in September, the strongest uptick since March when it increased by 3.5% although less of a rise than the 2.7% recorded in September 2023.
Reeves took office in July following the Labour government’s landslide election win and is set to deliver her first annual budget on Oct. 30. She has warned some taxes will increase, although she has ruled out increases to the rates of income tax and National Insurance social security payments.
“With energy prices having again risen, all eyes now turn to the budget and what impact that will have on household discretionary spending in the final quarter of the year,” said Linda Ellett, UK head of consumer, retail and leisure at accountants KPMG, who sponsor the data.
Regulated energy tariffs rose by 10% on Oct. 1, increasing the typical annual bill to 1,717 pounds ($2,244)
A separate survey from Barclays, also published on Tuesday, showed spending on its credit and debit cards rose by 1.2% year-on-year in September, the biggest increase since April after a rise of 1.0% in August.
However in real terms this represented a fall as British consumer price inflation held at 2.2% in September, slightly above the Bank’s 2% target.
Official retail sales data for August showed a 2.2% rise in retail sales in cash terms, and a bigger-than-expected 1.0% volume increase.
Barclays said spending on discretionary items last month rose by the most since June, with entertainment jumping by 14.4% – the biggest increase since July 2023 when U.S. singer-songwriter Taylor Swift opened sales for the British leg of her concert tour.
Barclays attributed last month’s jump in entertainment spending to the opening of ticket sales for concerts by British rock band Oasis, who are reuniting after a 15-year split.
In contrast, spending on essential items declined by the greatest amount since April 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Within that, spending on groceries fell for the first time since June.
