BAM Outsource Concerned as Retailers Suffer After Heavy Rain

May 22, 2012 - PRLog -- We’ve all found the last few weeks of rain pretty galling, we’re meant to be heading towards summer after all! For most of us it has been no more than an inconvenience but BAM Outsource understands for high street retailers the rain has been disastrous. BAM Outsource is a outsource sales and marketing company based in Peterborough and is aware that shoppers locally and nationally have been kept inside and figures from the British Retail Consortium suggest that it has sent the biggest decline in shopper numbers since November 2009.

BAM Outsource is well aware that retailers have already been hit by competition from budget retailer Primark as shoppers are increasingly turning to cheaper sources as the average family purse has shrunk considerably. Marks and Spenser is expected to announce its first fall in annual pre-tax profits for three years down 3 percent to around £694 million.

Last month saw the number of shoppers fall by 12.6 per cent, though indoor shopping centres saw a rise of 0.4%. Adding to the discomfort felt by many retailers, the number of shops vacant in UK town centres remained high at 11.1 per cent. BAM Outsource was surprised to learn that the figures varied considerably around the country. In Wales there was actually a slight rise of 0.6 per cent over the last quarter whereas Scotland was down by a massive 12.6 per cent. Greater London saw a decrease of 8.2 per cent in the same period.

Managing director of BAM Outsource, Benjamin Knowles says that retailers face worrying times ahead. “We’ve noticed a significant number of empty shops in our own city of Peterborough. As a direct sales and outsource marketing company we are aware of the tough times that independent and even high street retailer are having at the moment. We feel that there is going to be an increasing trend towards online retail, which has much lower costs associated with it. It’s also able to be done from the comfort of customers own homes where they can keep their feet dry!”

The British Retail Consortium’s director general Stephen Robertson concluded “While March was a better month, with the sun bringing some spring spending forward, cold, wet weather combined with a widespread lack of spare cash kept them at home in April.” BAM Outsource is hopeful that the predicted warmer weather over the next week will make up for the losses this month.