Yahoo Finance Summer Of Sporting Success Boosts Retailers
Retailers have enjoyed their best July growth since 2006 - the last time the country saw a prolonged heatwave.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said warm, sunny weather helped sales rise 2.2% on a like-for-like basis compared with last year as beer and burgers, together with swimwear, sun cream and sandals buoyed consumer spending.
It was the third consecutive month of improvement after a fall in April when shops were hit by freezing conditions, the BRC said, though deep discounting also helped reel shoppers into stores.
Online sales growth was 7.9%, a relatively slow improvement for the burgeoning sector as the weather encouraged consumers to get out from behind their computer screens.
BRC director general Helen Dickinson said the "very solid" sales performance was also driven by a 'feel-good factor' arising from the arrival of the Royal baby and sporting success.
She cited the Wimbledon win by Andy Murray, Chris Froome's Tour de France victory and the start of the Ashes.
She said: "While we know that the picture is still variable and the high street in particular continues to face considerable challenges, these positive results will be welcomed in town centres around the country that depend so much on retailers performing well."
David McCorquodale, head of retail at KPMG, which compiled the figures, added: "Food and drink saw the best growth performance since November (Xetra: A0Z24E - news) 2009, with champagne, beer and other drinks as well as burgers, baps, summer fruits and ice cream all seeing significant increases."
In other categories, DIY and gardening was strong after a very slow start to 2013, together with toys including paddling pools.
But not all high street retailers benefited from the higher temperatures.
Greggs (LSE: GRG.L - news) the bakers blame the hotter weather of recent months for poor trading.
Pre- tax profits for the first half of the year were £11.4m - down by £4.6m on a year earlier.
The company warned the performance meant that full-year profits would be lower than expected and it intended to reshape the business, focusing on services for its 'food on the go' customers while store expansion would be slowed.
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