One-quarter of Brits 'have no spare cash'

By Sarah Engle, Thu 3 Feb 2011 - Published in Banking

An increasing number of British consumers currently have no spare money, new research has found.

The Consumer Confidence Survey, published by Nielsen Company and the British Retail Consortium, found that 27 per cent of shoppers say they are in this situation.

According to the report, this is an increase of six percentage points since similar research was carried out at the end of last year and represents the highest point since the index was launched in 2005.

Chris Morley, group managing director of Nielsen UK & Ireland, said: "There is no doubt that many consumers are under a lot of financial pressure and little wonder why over a quarter feel they have no spare money whatsoever."

He added that discretionary spending is expected to come under even more pressure over the course of 2011, as the cost of living continues to increase.

Recent research by the Post Office found that 34 per cent of credit card holders, which is the equivalent of over 11.5 million people, used these products to cover their living costs in January.

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