Budget retailers drive clothing sales

Primark, New Look, Tesco and George@Asda are responsible for driving growth in the clothing market over the last year, according to new research from Verdict.

The report, UK Value Clothing Retailers 2006, says that without the budget retailers, the clothing market would be slipping into "negative territory".

The value sector is now worth £7.8bn, and Verdict forecasts that it will account for 23.7% of the market by the end of the year. This means it will account for £1 in every £4 spent on clothes.

The report says that 90% of the value retailers’ growth comes from Primark, New Look, Tesco and George, with Primark accounting for a majority of those sales, at 42.8%.

The growth of the value segment means that volume sales have exceeeded value sales since the late 1990s. Last year, the clothing market as a whole grew by 2.3%, while the value sector grew by 11%.