Despite the flurry of retail deals in 2004, which has seen Icelandic retail chain Baugur make further inroads into the UK high street, Carstairs believes more deals will be done in 2005. He said: "Retail’s been very active. Will it continue? I don’t see any reason why not. We’ve not seen the end of the M&S situation. There will be more activity at the top end - whether that be at Sainsbury’s or anywhere else - which will inevitably filter down into the smaller retailers too."
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Latest available figures from the Bank of England suggest that prices of many clothes have been falling at an annual rate of 7% since 1999 and experts say that the trend could accelerate in 2005.
They point to the removal of quota controls on Asian textiles from January 1 and say that retailers such as Next, Matalan and Marks & Spencer are likely to step up their imports from cheap suppliers in India, China and Hong Kong from the current level of around 30%.
Industry experts say that cheaper imports could boost profit margins for the big players by as much as 10%, but tough markets mean that most if not all the benefits could be passed on to customers.
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