Local retailers buck UK trend

Thursday 17th April 2008, 1:00PM BST.

GUERNSEY’S high street has made a battling start to 2008, according to the Chamber of Commerce. Figures released by the British Retail Consortium show that UK sales have posted their worst fall in almost two years.

The BRC said March’s figures, which had declined by 1.6% from a year earlier, were the worst since July 2005. But a Chamber retail sub-group spokesman said the island’s retail sector in and out of Town had been resilient before and after Christmas.

‘Into the first quarter of this year, the post-Christmas and Easter sales have done nothing to lift the UK high street performance but we have not seen the same in Guernsey. ‘There is nothing to suggest that retail is suffering in any way like in the UK.’