Though the Bank of England believes the economy is now 'bumping along the bottom' and the final quarter of 2009 should at last record a return to growth, for many businesses any such upturn will come too late.  The Local Data Company reports that one in ten retailers closed their doors in the first nine months of 2009. 

Tesco in the six months to the end of August delivered a very strong non-food performance with double-digit like-for-like growth in electricals; its own brand Technika is now the fifth best-selling TV brand in the UK. Chairman Terry Leahy believes ‘we are past the low point, things are getting better, people feel their financial circumstances are under control'. He sees recovery as being ‘slow and steady'.

Consumer confidence is beginning to improve once more, albeit slowly, according to the latest Nationwide Index which interviewed one thousand people in May.  Whilst the vast majority remain gloomy about the current state of the economy, 28% of those questioned believe the situation will be better in six months' time than it is today.  But don't get too excited, a similar percentage says it will get even worse. 

Good news stories in retail are hard to find at the moment, so the relative success of John Lewis made headlines last month.  Group pre-tax profits in the year to January fell by 26%, but that was a resilient performance and so 69,000 staff received a bonus of 13% (down from twenty).

Over the past month or so, Empire Direct, Miller Brothers and Dial-a-TV have each appointed administrators, thus joining the ever-lengthening list of recent casualties.