Liverpool ONE say they’re thriving despite cost of living crisis

As the cost of living crisis continues hit homes and people tighten their belts, you'd think this would spell disaster for our high street.

However, Liverpool ONE says they are thriving. In fact, last week they held a recruitment day for hundreds of roles at the shopping and leisure complex.

New stores are being opened too, with Tessuti’s brand new global flagship store opening it’s doors last month.

It’s a rare good news story amid a cost of living and energy crisis that is crippling some businesses - particularly in the hospitatlity sector - and leaving families short of funds.

‘Liverpool ONE is thriving’

Iain Finlayson, Estate Director at Liverpool ONE, said: "Liverpool ONE is thriving. You will not find a better performing retail and leisure destination in the country. This is why so many of our brands are looking to invest in extra staff at the moment.

“We went out to our stores in the course of the past couple of weeks, and we said, who's recruiting? We had 450 confirmed vacancies within stores, and there is potentially even more that we don't know about."

Rise in retail sales

Data from the Office for National Statistics show that retail sales volumes across Britain rose by 0.3% in July.

However, the rise was not universal to all retail sectors. As well as a drop in clothing sales, household goods stores sales volumes fell by 0.4% in the same month.

Feedback from retailers suggests that consumers in the UK are generally cutting back on spending because of increased prices and affordability concerns.

But that isn’t necessarily case at Liverpool ONE - and Liverpudlians are being urged to keep supporting the sector whenever possible.

Support for retail and hospitality

Mr Finlayson said: "When we go back to 2008, we actually opened in a recession. Liverpool ONE has proved very resilient over time.

“The way people locally live their life is very much to prioritise what they wear, where they eat and drink. If you can, then continue to try and support retail and hospitality as best as you can."

Globally, we've seen a huge increase in energy prices as well as record-breaking levels of inflation here in the UK.

However, new Prime Minister Liz Truss has frozen average energy bills at £2,500 a year for two years. It was also announced that the government would support the hospitality sector for six months.