Is this the end of UK's retail boom?

Economic indicators point to a prolonged slump in consumer spending, and as prices rise real income will fall

All things considered, it could hardly have gone better for Britain's retailers in 2016. Shops and online outlets were fully braced for a big hit to activity in the period after the EU referendum but it didn't happen. Consumers spent in the summer. They spent in the autumn and they spent at Christmas too.

That spree is over. Retailers are going to find life tougher in 2017. Those facing the prospect of higher business rates alongside a dip in demand will experience a painful double-whammy.