George Osborne’s autumn statement was an opportunity for the government to return much needed confidence to the retail sector to boost growth. The Chancellor’s statement questions the conventional wisdom that countries can spend their way to economic prosperity, as reference to consumer spending is almost completely bypassed.

Last week’s concerning official figures published by the Office for National Statistics paint a worrying economic picture for the retail and distribution sector. The figures were followed by a warning from the British Retail Consortium that the ONS were in fact painting a far rosier picture than they were hearing from their members.

Kevin Flood, co-founder and CEO of Shopow, the UK’s largest social shopping site, commented, “For the British economy to start growing it is absolutely vital confidence returns. With conditions still fragile on Britain’s high street, providing greater support for SMEs and freezing the proposed fuel duty rise are welcome. The Chancellor’s proposed extension to rate relief for small firms and the implementation of a credit easing program to underwrite up to £40bn of small business loans will give smaller firms greater confidence. It will not however alleviate the strain on the purse strings of the consumer.

Kevin adds, “The Government needs to review its decision on VAT however to alleviate some of the economic gloom people are experiencing. A temporary cut in VAT would help give consumers confidence to get out and spend.”