Member Article

North East Christmas spend shifts from pints to presents

People in the North East will be celebrating Christmas this year with bulging stockings rather than boozy soirees, according to new research. The 12th annual Christmas Retail Survey from Deloitte shows that more money will be spent on presents this Christmas than in previous years.

The average spend on Christmas gifts per person in the North East will be £440, just £3 behind the UK’s biggest spenders in Wales and up 37% on the same figure last year.

But the region’s image as the party capital of the UK could take a hit this Christmas, with the average spend on socialising predicted to drop by a massive 46%, to just £100 per person. Expected spending on food & drink will also drop by 19%, from £178 last year to £145 this festive season.

Paul Feechan, Consumer Business Partner for Deloitte’s Newcastle office said: “Gift retailers and stores in the region can look forward to a bumper year, but the big reduction in spend on socialising may not bode well for the leisure industry, as hotels, pubs, and restaurants would expect to be hardest hit. Expenditure this year on food and drink will also be lower and grocery retailers may need to pull out all the stops to attract more customers. “Our report shows how patterns change year-on-year, and highlights the annual challenge that the retail and leisure sectors face in bringing the festive crowds in – and looking around the region, you can already see that the big push to get Christmas shoppers and partygoers out spending their money has well and truly begun.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .