August produced the second consecutive year-on-year increase in high street sales according to figures from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).

In its latest Distributive Trades Survey, the CBI also uncovered growing optimism among retailers.

“Retailers expect sales to continue growing in September and they are more optimistic about the general business situation in the coming three months,” the CBI said.

Durable household goods (under which heading the organisation also includes electricals) was one of the sub sectors cited by the CBI as achieving the strongest growth.

More than half of the retailers surveyed (53 per cent) said that the volume of sales rose during the first two weeks in August while 18 per cent said that it fell, giving a balance of +35 per cent.

This, said the CBI, was similar to the pace of sales growth in July (+33 per cent), and the fastest since April 2007, although it was slower than the +45 per cent expected.

Retailers also expect sales growth to remain strong in September. The CBI reported a balance of +39 per cent who expected September’s sales volumes to be higher than those of a year ago.

Head of economic analysis at the CBI, Lai Wah Co, however, warned: “The broader outlook for consumer spending is still uncertain, given the VAT rise next year, subdued pay awards and the feed-through of public spending cuts to job losses.”