England's run to the semi-finals of the soccer World Cup and a scorching summer encouraged shoppers in Britain to spend more on food, drink and electric fans in July, but overall spending rose only slowly, according to a survey of retailers.
Total retail sales values rose by 1.6 percent compared with July 2017, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said, the weakest increase since February, excluding a fall in April which was distorted by the timing of Easter.