Foot and Mouth impact reaches £40 million
According to the Outdoor Industries Association (OIA) which released the figures, over four in five suppliers reported substantial cancellations of orders for May, with turnover down by over 80 per cent in some cases. Across retailers and their suppliers, half the OIA’s members reported a fall in sales of more than 20 per cent on the previous year. A number of businesses have already closed and almost a fifth of members report laying off staff. In spite of slowly improving access to the UK’s most popular walking and climbing areas, the majority of OIA members believe it will be into the autumn before trade returns to 'normal' levels, with many concerned that substantial volumes of unsold stocks will continue to cause problems through next winter.
