British Retail Consortium

About the Retail Sector



  • UK retail sales were approximately £246.3 billion in 2004.

  • 11% of all enterprises in the UK are retailers, with 184,695 VAT-registered businesses operating in 278,630 retail outlets.

  • Retail accounted for 5.6% of Gross Value Added (GVA) in 2002.

  • Over a third of consumer spending goes through shops.

  • The retail industry employed 2.8 million people, as at the end of September 2004. This equates to 1 in 9 (11%) of the total UK workforce.

  • Over the last five years, employment in retailing has grown by 273,200.

  • During the last decade, the price of shop goods rose only 8%, much less than the 30% increase in the all-items Retail Price Index.