Insider Media Limited

The value of retail spending in the UK will increase by one per cent year-on-year this Christmas. That’s according to business advisory firm Deloitte, which said that this increase will take the value of retail sales in December above £37bn.

However, Deloitte said it did not expect the retail industry “to see any growth at all in 2011”.

In the West Midlands, 78 per cent of customers said they were planning to spend the same or more on gifts and food and drink as last year, while 83 per cent plan to spend on socialising.

Jane Whitlock, consumer business partner at Deloitte in Birmingham, said: “A one per cent increase in retail sales this Christmas caps a remarkable year for UK retail. The industry bucked most forecasts for 2010 and whilst retail sales for the whole year will be broadly flat, in the context of the wider economic environment this is a tremendous outcome.

"A number of factors combined to support disposable income in 2010, particularly the record low interest rates which have lowered the costs of servicing mortgage debt.

“Each year, consumers tell us they will do whatever they can to enjoy Christmas and this year will be no different.”

According to the results of Deloitte’s annual Christmas Retail Survey, consumers in the West Midlands are ‘pessimistic’ on the outlook for the UK economy, with a third expecting it to deteriorate in 2011. Just 18 per cent think it will improve. Forty-one per cent of those surveyed believe the economy will stay the same next year.