Charity Shops Buck the Trend On the High Street

151

Share		Email

• Share
• Email

New research has found that takings are up among the charity shop sector as hard-pressed shoppers look for bargains.

A survey has revealed that the UK’s charity shops are enjoying an increase in profits as Britons respond to the credit crunch by seeking alternatives to the high street stores.

Charity Finance magazine’s 17th annual Charity Shops Survey found that the sector saw an overall 7.4 per cent increase in profits, with overall income increasing by 5.7 per cent to £534.3 million.

Charity shops were not immune to the problems besetting the UK economy, however, with costs increasing by 5.3 per cent.

Nevertheless, total profits increased to 106.7 million and the average shop saw its weekly profit increase to £370 from £350 a year ago.

The charity which made the most profits was Oxfam, building on its position at the top of last year’s survey with a 5.1 per cent increase in profits to £21.1 million.

Second place was maintained by Cancer Research UK, whose shops enjoyed a 1.2 per cent increase in profits.

The British Heart Foundation was in third place, with a whopping 14.2 per cent increase, followed swiftly by the Salvation Army Trading Company, which experienced the biggest rise in profits – a massive 63.6 per cent increase to £6.2 million.

Charity Finance editor Ian Allsop said: “Though the results largely cover the period before the economic conditions started to worsen, it is nevertheless heartening to see that they had a good year.

“While there was no consensus among respondents as to how any economic slowdown may affect the sector, at least they can face these challenges from a position of financial health.”

The rosy picture for charity shops contrasts starkly with the outlook for the retail sector, which is struggling with the ongoing credit crunch.

The latest data from the British Retail Consortium revealed that sales had fallen by nearly 1 per cent since July.