UK retailers have cut orders from suppliers at the fastest rate on record as weak consumer sentiment continues to weigh on sales, according to new CBI data.

Retail sales volumes fell sharply in the year to September, with the CBI’s retail sales balance dropping to -55 per cent, down from -48 per cent in August and marking the steepest decline since April.

The downturn prompted retailers to dramatically pull back on stock orders, with orders placed with suppliers plunging to a balance of -62 per cent, compared with -29 per cent the previous month.

It marked the fastest rate of decline since the CBI’s Distributive Trades Survey records began in 1983. Businesses expect the squeeze to continue into October, with the orders balance forecast to fall further to -63 per cent.

Online retailers also suffered a sharp deterioration in trading, with sales volumes falling to -68 per cent from -43 per cent in August – the fastest rate of decline since October 2023.

Meanwhile, retailers judged sales for the time of year to be increasingly poor, with the balance dropping to -40 per cent from -26 per cent last month.

CBI lead economist Martin Sartorius said: “The persistent sales downturn appears to have prompted retailers to cut back on order volumes at a survey-record pace.”

The business group said poor consumer sentiment was partly behind the worsening sales picture and warned that weakness was also spreading across the wider distribution sector, with wholesalers and motor traders reporting faster falls in sales.

Retailers expect sales volumes to remain under pressure next month, although the pace of decline is forecast to ease to -37 per cent.

The CBI used the figures to urge the Government to reduce employment costs and introduce further business rates reform ahead of the Autumn Budget, arguing the measures would give retailers greater scope to invest and hire.

The survey paints a notably weaker picture than the latest official retail data. Office for National Statistics figures showed retail sales volumes rose 0.5 per cent month on month in August and were 2.4 per cent higher than a year earlier.

Across the three months to August, volumes increased 0.9 per cent compared with the previous three-month period, helped by stronger food and non-store sales.

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