THE founder of a network created to fight for the revival of the British high street has branded the current economic climate as a “cost of living catastrophe”.
Dr Jackie Mulligan, founder of award-winning ShopAppy.com, which began life in Saltaire back in 2016 in a bid to boost high street shopping has spoken out on the ONS retail sales data published today (Friday).
Customers flocked to supermarkets to buy more cigarettes and alcoholic drinks, but spent less in non-food shops.
While retail sales picked up in April after last month’s fall, the figures still show a “continued longer-term downward trend,” said Heather Bovill, deputy director for surveys and economic indicators.
The most recent inflation figures showed a massive spike in the cost of living, especially in April as energy bills spiked.
Measured by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), inflation hit nine per cent in the year to April.
Dr Mulligan, a Government High Streets Task Force expert, said: “People are clearly spending more on staying in, and more did it from their sofas in April.
“The shift online is here to stay and the beneficiaries appear to be billion-pound businesses rather than the small independent ones that line our high streets. The three-month period to April is a far better gauge of what's happening.”
She added: "Strong sales of alcohol, tobacco and sweets may well highlight the growing anxiety among households.
“We work with and hear from thousands of small independent retailers around the country and it’s devastating to see a growing number of them have to shut up shop for the last time.
"This isn’t a cost of living crisis, it’s a cost of living catastrophe. Small independent retailers, many of whom have lots of debt that they accrued during the pandemic, are being kicked while they’re down and this time no one is stepping in to help.
“We’re seeing shops moving off the high street to go purely online or shutting up shop all together, which is a loss to communities long term.
"With inflation at nine per cent and expected to get higher, people are understandably cautious or simply don’t have the money to spend on anything bar the necessities, and it has the potential to kill off the high street.
“We’re urging people to shop local whenever they can and spend their money with small businesses not the billionaires."
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