* Retail sales volumes were up 1.5% in September year-on-year, following 0.7% growth in August

* The month saw sales volumes rise among computer and telecoms retailers as well as online jewellers where there was strong demand for gold, that was offset by a modest decline in sales in department stores

* Retail sales had been expected to rise 0.6% (Trading Economics)

Nicholas Hyett, Investment Manager at Wealth Club, commented:

"Retail sales boomed in September - smashing though expectations and rising 1.5%. The steady increase in real wages (with pay rising faster than prices) will be underpinning that growth - but it has still taken analysts by surprise.

A strong result from non-store retailers, particularly computing and telecoms retailers, suggests consumer confidence is returning. But it's increased demand for gold from online jewellers that is most interesting. On the one hand expensive jewellery is the kind of discretionary purchase consumers tend to make when they're feeling flush with cash, on the other gold is a safe haven in times of uncertainty. It's unclear which of those contradictory urges is driving demand.

Either way it looks like the great British public have indulged in a healthy dose of retail therapy in September. It's just unclear whether that's to block out the coming winter gloom or reflects a fit of high spirits."

Ends

For further information contact:

Jo Thorne: jo.thorne@wealthclub.co.uk

Wealth Club

Wealth Club was set up in 2016 by former Hargreaves Lansdown director Alex Davies. The aim was to make it easier for high net worth and sophisticated investors to find authoritative information on - and invest in - tax-efficient investments (VCTs, EIS, SEIS and AIM IHT ISAs).

Today, Wealth Club is the UK's largest non-advisory investment service exclusively for high net worth and sophisticated investors. Over 68,000 people are now members. More than 13,200 of these have become clients and have invested around £1.65 billion through us (June 2025).

Wealth Club is the UK's largest broker of tax-efficient investments. In 2023, Wealth Club launched its own Managed Portfolios to help wealthier and more experienced investors make more of their mainstream investments (ISA, SIPP and General Investment Account, or GIA).

In November 2024, the Wealth Club launched the UK's first investment fund supermarket for private markets funds for sophisticated and/or high net worth investors.