BUSINESS EXTRA Ticket to ride FINANCE

Tighter belts

AS shoppers spent less and awaited increased energy bills, UK retail sales growth more than halved at the start of the year. The country’s total retail sales grew by 4.2 per cent last month compared with 11.9 per cent in January 2022, British Retail Consortium (BRC) revealed.

Art lovers

SPAIN’S millennials born between the early 80s and mid90s are not investing in art, according to several Madrid auctioneers and dealers, accounting for between 3 and 4 per cent of sales. In contrast, their international counterparts accounted for 34 per cent of new buyers, London­based Christie’s said.

Lidl surprise

MARKETING data company

Kantar revealed that customers who habitually shop at Marks & Spencer, Waitrose or Sainsbury’s spent £120 million (€135.5 million) at Lidl last year. The equivalent of £10 million (€11.3 million), this rose to (£11 million (€12.4 million) in January, suggesting a new trend.

More jobs

THE number of workers working for Spain’s largest companies rose last year by 5.2 per cent compared with 2022, tax authority Hacienda revealed. Their salaries rose by 3.7 per cent in the largest increase recorded since 2008, but well below late December’s 5.7 per cent inflation rate.

Gone to waste

MILLIONS of pounds’ worth of UK energy vouchers have not been cashed as one in five homes with pre ­ payment meters have failed to redeem approximately 380,000 of them. The government urged energy firms to ensure that vulnerable customers received the help they were entitled to.