According to the Sharecast site http://bit.ly/ebeCPc High Street sales were buoyant in January, despite the VAT increase. There was an increase of 9.1% from the previous January.
As it says later in the piece a lot of this can be put down to discounting from shops, and the mild weather. Casting our minds back to Jan 2010 we had some bad weather, some of the worst for years, if me memory serves me correctly.
What was absolutely staggering was the 49% increase in on-line trade. A huge increase.
What always concerns me about these reports is they are based on the major retailers, and not local shops. I appreciate they couldn't possibly get the figures together from all the independents out there, and they have to say something. But I suspect we will see a drop in how independents are fairing. Having said that I read on Paul Donno's site http://bit.ly/eo2EZR that some research has said that small companies are coping with the VAT increase, which is encouraging.