After months of hesitation following the cost-of-living crisis, retailers are beginning to express optimism that sales will begin to rise this spring. Results from a recent distributive trends survey of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), indicate that, of the 135 companies polled by the CBI, 9% acknowledged a sales projection to increase this April. Further improvements were evident in the headline sales volumes measure for March, showing at positive 1% and hitting back economists' estimate of a negative 6% reading. 

Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macreconomics stated that “gradual recovery in retail sales is beginning to take hold" but significant recovery in sales still has a long way to go. With news last week of February inflation hitting 10.4%, exceeding the 9.9% forecast, and forcing the Bank of England to hike rates by another 25 basis points, businesses and consumers are hopeful that the early trends will continue into the summer.