Shoppers brush off Brexit as retail figures rise by most in six months in July

Summer sales and good weather helps shoppers brush off concerns over the health of the UK economy

Retail spending was 1.9 per cent higher than a year earlier in July (PA)

The shock result of the EU referendum didn't put people off shopping in July, according to the latest figures released by the British Retail Consortium.

Summer sales and good weather helped shoppers brush off concerns over the health of the UK economy, the BRC data shows.

Retail spending was 1.9 per cent higher than a year earlier in July, the biggest rise in six months and up sharply from 0.2 per cent growth in June, when bad weather added to uncertainty around June 23's referendum, the BRC said.

Sales were up 1.1 per cent on a like-for-like basis, when changes in floorspace were stripped out, compared to a 0.5 per cent dip in June.

Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said "little had materially changed" for most UK households since the EU referendum.

David McCorquodale, head of retail at KPMG, said sunny days had "helped blow away some of the post-referendum blues, boosting the UK feelgood factor and giving consumers a sense that 'life goes on' following the initial shock of the Brexit vote".

According to a separate report by Barclaycard, spending in restaurants, pubs and cinemas also increased following the vote to Leave the EU.

Barclaycard found that overall spending fell by 1 per cent in July compared to May and June.

A similar survey by Visa showed that spending picked up 1.6 per cent in July compared to July 2015, up from a 0.9 per cent increase in June.

Seasonally adjusted spending increased 1.1 per cent, the strongest month-on-month gain since January, reversing a 0.5 per cent decline in June.

However Visa warned that monthly data can be unreliable and that the picture across three months of spending showed that customers were still being cautious about their spending.

The Bank of England has cut the base rate from 0.5 per cent to a record low of 0.25 per cent to encourage consumers to get out and spend, rather than save, money.

The central bank forecasted that the UK economy would have returned to a recession for the first time since the financial crisis unless it took drastic measures.

Even with the the interest rate cut and billions in stimulus, economic growth is expected to slump to just 0.1 per cent in the third and fourth quarters of the year.

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