Scottish retailers see rise in retail

High street sales in Scotland rose 3.4 per cent on the back of good weather and the summer sales.Like-for-sale sales rose in July against a UK drop of 1.9 per cent, with grocery and clothing the strongest performers. Total sales grew 8 per cent, an increase from 6.9 per cent in June. Fiona Moriarty, director of the Scottish Retail Consortium said the figures mask the true picture on the high street which is still struggling with price deflation, intense competition and price-conscious shoppers.

Discounting and extended sale periods encouraged shoppers back into stores. Hot weather helped, with sales of items such as barbecues and summer accessories bringing a boost to the struggling DIY and clothing sectors. The SRC said the consumer spending slowdown was still evident but "there are signs of a levelling off of performance". It added: "This may well signify that we are close to the bottom of the cycle." Sales of autumn and back-to-school lines could give August sales a similar lift.

Moriarty added that there was evidence of a sales dip in Edinburgh and Stirling in early July, because of fears surrounding the G8 summit at Gleneagles. John Lewis reported sales down as much as 30 per cent on the weekend of 2nd July.

18 August 2005

Retail slower in Scotland

Figures from the Scottish Retail Consortium showed that like-for-like sales growth fell from 5.5 per cent in September to 2.5 per cent in October, while in the rest of the UK growth was just 0.5 per cent. Total growth in Scotland was 8 per cent, from 7.6 per cent in September, compared to just 3 per cent in the rest of the country.

Fiona Moriarty, director of the SRC, said that although the retailers' preferred measure, like-for-like growth, dipped this month, "confidence shouldn't be too shaken because sales of clothing and other non-food products continued to grow apace in the run-up to Christmas".

Jeremy Peat, group chief economist at the Royal Bank of Scotland, which helps compile the monthly SRC Retail Sales Monitor, said: "The performance of retailers in Scotland continues to be stronger than for their counterparts in the UK as a whole - however, the retail sector has come off the boil during 2004, slowing to more sustainable growth rates and this trend is now increasingly evident in Scotland."

18 november 2004

Glenmuir brings textile jobs back to Scotland

A clothing group is to move its entire overseas sweater manufacturing operations back to Scotland in a significant boost for the struggling domestic textile industry.
Glenmuir, which supplied the clothing for last year's European Ryder Cup team, has decided to consolidate production of its famous knitwear in Scotland from next year. The move is a rare case of textile work returning to Scotland from low cost overseas regions such as the Far East.

Glenmuir currently has its sweaters - worn by leading golfers including Sam Torrance and Mark James and sold around the world - manufactured at a number of locations abroad and in Scotland.

Managing director Colin Mee said the switch to locally-based knitting businesses would give the company closer control of the manufacturing process and improve service levels for the firm's core product.

"We source product from where we can get the best quality and service and it just so happens that is in Scotland, which is obviously very good news for the knitting industry here," he said. The move is a major vote of confidence for Glenmuir in Scotland following the takeover of the company last year by Lancashire-based textile group Ruia.

It also comes as the firm revealed that Europe's Ryder Cup win at the Belfry last year helped drive strong profits growth. Glenmuir saw sales rise to £7.6m from £7.4m in the 11 months to November 22 compared with the previous 12 months.

8 September 2003