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How's the UK retail sector faring

ended 23. May 2025

Ahead of tomorrow's official retail sales data, which will be published >> here << at 07:00, we're looking for views from retailers about how business is for them at present. A handful of questions below… feel free to answer any or all. Deadline is 08:00 tomorrow (so you can update your comment if need be once the data has been published).

  • How's business for you at present? What's happening on the (digital) high street?
  • How have April and May (to date) been? Are consumers spending or battening down the hatches?
  • Are you confident about the year ahead?
  • What are the main challenges you are facing, e.g. rising inflation, tariff uncertainty, tax increases?

Equally, if you're confident about 2025 and are thriving, tell us why. Any other thoughts or intel from the front line of the retail sector, send them across. 

5 responses from the Newspage community

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Aisha Hossain
Founder at Selhaya
It's encouraging to see there is still life on the high street in what is a challenging economic landscape. Let's hope this momentum has continued into May and the ongoing good weather suggests it may well have. As a modestwear retailer, we're seeing a shift away from throwaway and fast fashion trend cycles toward garments that carry meaning, not marketing. When people are spending, they're spending more consciously.
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Nicholas Found
Head of Commercial Insights at Retail Economics
Retailers clearly welcomed some much-needed sunshine, as shoppers returned to DIY and gardening, while lighter evenings and social gatherings lifted food and drink spending, which had seen sluggish growth in previous months. Yet beneath the glimmer of momentum lies a more challenging reality. Value remains the overriding priority for consumers, with demand concentrated around carefully timed promotions and events, as high living costs and elevated interest rates continue to shape behaviour. At the same time, Budget and tariff-related costs are coming in, putting pressure on profitability. Retailers are navigating an increasingly complex environment, where protecting margins, sustaining investment and staying competitive is becoming harder. With economic uncertainty continuing and consumers still cautious, the resilience gap between those who can and cannot adapt will only widen.
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Tony Redondo
Founder at Cosmos Currency Exchange
UK Retail is reeling in 2025, according to my retail business owner clients, with April and May reflecting cautious consumer spending. Retail sales grew modestly by 0.7% in 2024, but consumer confidence is at a two-year low due to the UK's flatlining economy, the ‘Awful April’ tax rises, and tariff fears. Retailers are experiencing ever-squeezed margins from higher employer NICs and minimum wage costs. Consumers are prioritizing essentials like groceries, cutting back on non-essentials (70% plan to reduce spending according to PwC). Digital high streets see steady e-commerce, but physical stores struggle with footfall. The outlook remains shaky. Supply chain costs and currency volatility add to the risk burden.
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Kundan Bhaduri
Entrepreneur, Investor and Landlord at The Kushman Group
2025 looks bleak indeed for British retail as small businesses are contending with a perfect storm of rising costs and tightening consumer purses. While April's borrowing hit an eye-watering £20bn, funding a bureaucratic apparatus that seems determined to extinguish any entrepreneurial spark, retailers face a triple whammy of increased employer NIC, inflated business rates, and soaring compliance costs under Labour's Red Tape Revolution. Commercial energy costs remain 22% above pre-pandemic levels despite wholesale price reductions. April's sales plummeted 7% year-on-year, with May offering even bleaker prospects. This government's 'Promise Paradise, Deliver Purgatory' approach to economic management has shattered consumer confidence, with discretionary spending in freefall and no relief in sight. The retail sector requires certainty and confidence to flourish. Labour has sadly gifted us neither in the past year. Prepare to hear howls of '14 years of Tory mismanagement' yet again.
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Jenny Blyth
Small business owner at Storm in a Teacup Gifts
The past 4 months have been a really interesting insight into the mind of the consumer at the moment. It’s very clear to see that our high streets are dying, my website has had fewer views than ever and yet my Etsy store seems to be soaring. I think the public are really starting to take the time to support small business but for them, that means using sites like Etsy. In some respects this is brilliant however as a small business, Etsy knows they hold the market so can charge extortionate fees to its users. I have confidence that we can continue to build but I’m not going to relax just yet. There is a lot of year ahead of us in which Trump can make up rules and we don’t yet have a strong government supporting us. We are still in the unknown and I for one am holding tight on to my parachute and preparing for emergencies.