New research from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) shows that retail insurance holders saw declining sales in May.
The organisation's latest Distributive Trades Survey found that 48 per cent of retail insurance customers saw year-on-year sales fall in the first two weeks of May, while just 31 per cent reported an increase.
In addition, the research found that a balance of 29 per cent of firms have been forced to reduce their headcount, although this is an improvement on the 49 per cent which was recorded in February this year.
However, the survey also discovered that a balance of eight per cent of retail insurance holders expect the general business situation to deteriorate, which is the least negative figure seen since November 2007.
Ian McCafferty, chief economic advisor at the CBI, commented: "Retailers are less pessimistic about their general business situation, and the decline in demand now appears to be slowing compared with the turn of the year."
The British Retail Consortium revealed earlier this month that sales increased by 4.6 per cent on a like-for-like basis in April and 6.3 per cent on a total basis.
