Budget blamed as retail gross sales droop

Retail sales slumped last month, official figures show, as shoppers held back spending ahead of Rachel Reeves’s Budget.

Sales volumes fell 0.7pc in October compared to the previous month, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The figure was down from a rise of 0.1pc in September, which was revised down from a previous estimate of 0.3pc growth.

It was also worse than analyst estimates for a fall of 0.3pc.

ONS senior statistician Hannah Finselbach said: “The fall was driven by a notably poor month for clothing stores, but retailers across the board reported consumers held back on spending ahead of the Budget.”

It comes after dozens of Britain’s biggest retailers this week warned the Chancellor that her plans to hike National Insurance will cause staff to be laid off and shops to be shut.

Major companies including Tesco, M&S, Boots and B&Q wrote to Ms Reeves saying that job losses were now “inevitable”, as a result of the “sheer scale” of the new costs on business.

In a letter from over 70 companies, Ms Reeves was told that the sector faces £7bn in increased costs as a result of changes to employers’ National Insurance, a higher minimum wage rise and levies on packaging.

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