The half-yearly survey from the Caterham, Surrey, UK-headquartered Shop and Display Equipment Association (SDEA) reveals that there is tangible evidence of a positive upwards climb within Britain’s retail display industry. It found that 57% of respondents benefited from an increase in sales during the second half of 2013 compared with the first half of the year, while a further 24% registered similar results.
Many shop fitting and display companies expect to do more business during the second half of the year, so the survey also compared sales with the same period the previous year. These figures too were encouraging, with 43% of respondents reporting increased sales year on year and a further 33% indicating no change. The average increase reported was 18.6%.
The future looks promising, as over 50% of respondents expect sales to increase during the next six months. The figure rises to 76% for the long range, 12 month forecast.
Other indicators, such as employment, also suggest high levels of confidence. Nineteen percent of respondents had taken on additional employees during the last six months, while some 52% said they expected to hire more staff over the next half year.
“There has been a real turnaround, with genuine growth of 26% compared with our last six monthly survey, and 18% growth year on year,” said SDEA Director Lawrence Cutler. “Overall, these figures reveal a degree of business confidence not witnessed in the UK shop fittings and display industry for several years.”
