LONDON, Aug 11 (Reuters) – British consumers spent more on food and in pubs last month on the back of England’s run to the World Cup semi-finals and hot weather boosted clothing sales but they remained wary of big outlays, according to surveys published on Tuesday.
• The British Retail Consortium’s total retail sales measure rose by a below-average 1.3% from July 2025, slowing from 1.9% in June
• Food was up by 3.8% while non-food sales dropped by 0.7%
• Clothing sales were helped by a heatwave but footwear fell
• “Pressures are building across the food supply chain as a result of the conflict in the Middle East and prolonged hot weather, increasing the likelihood of higher food costs and renewed pressure on household budgets as we move into the autumn,” Sarah Bradbury, chief executive of the Institute of Grocery Distribution, said
• Barclays’ gauge of broader consumer spending rose by 2.0%, slightly faster than June’s 1.9% increase
• Growth in essential spending was up by 2.9% while non-essentials were up by 1.6%
• Pubs reported a 10% rise in transactions helped by the World Cup
• Travel spending was skewed towards domestic ‘staycations’ with airline spending down 6%
• Barclays’ measure of consumer confidence showed the most optimism about the UK economy in 21 months.
• The BRC survey covered the period of July 5-August 1 while the Barclays spending data was June 20-July 23.
(Writing by William Schomberg; editing by Suban Abdulla)
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