UK retailers braced for tough Christmas as shoppers feel squeeze

Data from Barclaycard shows that 50% of consumers are planning to cut back on their spending this Christmas. Photograph: Maja Smiejkowska/Reuters

Britain’s retailers are bracing themselves for a tough Christmas trading period as hard-pressed consumers react to a worsening cost of living crisis by cutting back on spending.

With the most profitable period of the year for shops and online outlets approaching, two surveys out on Tuesday underlined the extent of the squeeze on household budgets caused by the UK’s double-digit inflation rate.