Back to school boosts September retail sales

Consumers preparing for the new autumn season and academic year provided a welcome boost to retail sales last month.
The latest figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) show total sales rose 2% in September, against a growth of 2.7% in the same month last year. This is above the 12-month average growth of 1.1%.
Food sales increased 3.1% year on year over the three months to September, against a growth of 7.4% in August 2023 and below the 12-month average of 4.4%.
However, non-food sales