Jingle tills! The best Christmas in five years

The West End has high hopes after Covid and the cost-of-living crisis

- JONATHAN PRYNN

The West End is heading for its best Christmas since before the pandemic, with spending expected to be sharply up on last year as the cost of living squeeze finally eases. New forecasts show that domestic consumers are likely to spend about seven per cent more than last year in central London shops during retail’s key “golden quarter”, which includes the Black Friday discount bonanza in November as well as Christmas.

That will inject an extra £224.9 million into the West End economy compared with last year as shoppers indulge in their usual frenzy of purchasing, according to projections from retail analysts Rendle Intelligence.

Retailers and hospitality bosses are hoping for the first festive season in five years not overshadowed either by the pandemic — which ruined the Christmases of 2020 and 2021 — or the energy and cost of living crises, which squeezed shoppers’ spending power in 2022 and 2023. Rail strikes in those years also added to the misery.

But in 2024 the outlook is brighter with inflation back at just above two per cent, real wages rising, energy bills falling back and mortgage rates on the decline.

Diane Wehrle, CEO of Rendle Intelligence, said: “The forecast increase in domestic spending of seven per cent suggests that retailers have cause for optimism in what is recognised as the key trading period of the year. The forecast annual increase follows on from a more modest annual uplift of just four per cent over the same three months in 2023, when inflation was much higher and interest rates had increased throughout the year.”