Consumer confidence at 18-month high

Monday 2nd November 2009

There is slightly more positivity in the consumer market place but major job fears remain, a study has shown today.

The consumer Confidence Index released today by market research company Nielsen and the British Retail Consortium (BRC) showed confidence had risen to its highest level for 18 months.

The BRC were quick to point out that their figure of 75 for October, up from an all-time low of 65 last April, was still weak when compared to figures two or three years ago.

Justin Sargent, managing director at Nielsen said: "When we saw confidence pick up between April and June we felt there was a definite and tangible change in the mood of the nation, however, we were cautious as quite often when economies rise out of recession there can be false starts, blips.

"This latest poll shows that the confidence of the nation continues to improve, though consumers remain very guarded and we are still a long way from the confidence levels we saw prior to the economic meltdown."

Interestingly the poll found evidence to suggest lifestyles and habits have changed for many people in the UK following the recession, with 70 per cent of people claiming that they have changed their spending in order to save on household costs. Cost-cutting measures cited included:

Spending less on new clothes (68 per cent)

Trying to save on gas and electricity (66 per cent)

Cutting down on takeaways (64 per cent)

Switching to cheaper grocery brands (59 per cent)

British Retail Consortium director general Stephen Robertson commented: "There's no question the general mood of customers is better than a year ago, when conditions were dire, but improvement has been slow so far.

"Half of consumers believe we'll still be in recession in a year's time. More than half are worried about jobs and their own finances and that will hold back full scale retail recovery well into next year."

Debt was found to currently be Britons' biggest worry, with 15 per cent of respondents agreeing it was their chief concern, up from ten per cent a year ago.

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