THE British Retail Consortium has warned that, while a later Easter boosted the sector significantly in April, the outlook is not as rosy and conditions for consumers will become tougher.

Figures published today by the BRC show the value of retail sales in April was up by 6.3 per cent on the same month of 2016. This reflects a boost to trading from Easter, which fell in April. Easter fell in March last year.

BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said: “As expected, the Easter holidays provided the welcome boost to retail sales, which goes some way to making up for the disappointing start to the year. That said, the positive distortion from the timing of Easter was largely responsible for the month’s growth and, looking to the longer-term signs of a slowdown, the outlook isn’t as rosy.”

The BRC observed that food continued to contribute most to year-on-year growth in the overall value of UK retail sales, with inflation playing a part in this. It noted the non-food category, the more discretionary element of retail spending, was relatively weaker and focused on value.

Ms Dickinson said: “Consumer spend on food and non-food items is diverging. Food categories continue to contribute the most weight to overall growth, although food inflation has a part to play in this. Meanwhile, consumers are being more cautious in their spending towards non-food products, and focusing more on value-priced lines.

She added: “Although today’s figures do indicate that consumers are still willing to spend, with a cocktail of rising costs and slowing wage growth as the backdrop, conditions for consumers will get tougher.”