Retail sales bounced back last month after the so-called Beast from the East exacerbated the crisis facing the high street, according to official figures.
They are also battling heavy costs and suffering stiff competition online.On Thursday, Kingfisher said like-for-like sales at its B&Q brand fell 9% in the first quarter of the year.It put most of the blame on the weather.Its biggest competitor, Homebase, is having even bigger problems.Sky News reported on Wednesday that its Australian owner Wesfarmers was preparing to announce the loss-making chain's sale by the end of the week.The ONS figures did provide support for the under-fire pound - which climbed to $1.34 versus the dollar and was up almost a cent on values 24 hours earlier.That was credited to hopes the economy is not as fundamentally weak as the 0.1% growth registered between January and March would suggest and left the prospect of a summer interest rate rise in sight.
Ranko Berich, head of market analysis at Monex Europe, said: "Today's figures are reassuring to a limited extent as they show UK consumers remain willing to spend, but the overall outlook for consumer spending remains at best tepid."Recent survey data showed employment growth is slowing and higher petrol prices will eventually bite into discretionary spending, so it's unlikely the strong growth seen in April will continue for much longer."