Consumers starting their Christmas shopping earlier than usual amid concern over supply chain shortages and rising prices helped to drive a recovery in UK retail sales last month, industry figures show.
The British Retail Consortium said total sales were up 1.3% in October from the same month a year ago, and up 6.3% from the same month in 2019, before Covid-19 tipped the UK into the worst recession for 300 years.
In September, the Office for National Statistics recorded its fifth month of contracting sales volumes, the longest slump to hit the sector since 1996.
Faced with gaps on shelves and lengthy delivery times amid the worst supply chain disruption since the 1970s, consumers rushed to buy toys and presents toavoid disruption closer to
Read more on theguardian.com