UK consumer confidence takes a knock ahead of the autumn budget – BRC

With warnings of a tough autumn budget in the horizon, UK consumers’ mood appears to have lost its summer shine, according to latest British Retail Consortium (BRC) report.

Without providing an overall reading, the BRC said consumer confidence fell “significantly” in September and was mostly due to government chancellor Rachel Reeves’ delivering tough news in her upcoming budget on 30 October.

The industry body’s Consumer Sentiment Monitor, which is being made public for the first time and will become a monthly report, reveals consumer’s woes on five levels.

The country’s personal financial situation worsened to -6 in September, down from +1 in August; the state of the economy view worsened “significantly” to -21 last month, down from -8 in August; personal spending overall inched down to +10 in September, from +11 in August; and personal saving fell to -9 from -4 in August.

Any positive news? Well, personal spending on retail improved ever so slightly to -8 in September from -9 in August but remained negative overall.

But don’t expect a buying spree on fashion and beauty over the next few months. Expectations of spending over the next three months were mostly down this month, with fashion/clothing falling one point (from -20 to -21) while health & beauty also dipped one point to -13.

Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the BRC, said:“Retailers could face a turbulent few months as consumer confidence fell significantly in September. Negative publicity surrounding the state of the UK’s finances appears to have damaged confidence in the economic outlook, particularly among older generations. Despite this, expectations for future retail spending, while negative, did not yet appear to have been adversely affected, with many consumers expecting to reduce the amount they save instead.”