The latest sales figures reported by members of the British Independent Retailers Association (BIRA) show an average fall in sales of -2.94% compared to the same three months in 2018.

Scotland saw the sharpest fall in the UK during April to June compared with the same period in 2018. East Anglia was the only region reporting that sales had increased marginally, by an average of 1.32%.

The best-performing sector was cookshop and housewares, which saw an uplift of 2.41%. However gifts, glass, china, accessories and luggage saw the biggest fall of -6.75%, closely followed by retailers selling pet products and cards, stationery, crafts and hobbies both reporting a -5.4% reduction in sales.

BIRA CEO Andrew Goodacre said: “These results reflect the testing times independent retail is facing. However, independent business owners are nothing if not resilient and they will continue to fight and develop to save themselves.

“One of the greatest things about being independent is that they can be nimble and change quickly to adapt to changing trends, unlike the bigger retailers. This gives independent retailers an edge and we are seeing lots of our members diversifying to allow them to offer products and services that shoppers need to come to the high street for and can’t just buy online.”