Kate Davies, a senior statistician at the ONS noted that “a particularly warm June seems to have prompted strong sales in clothing, which has compensated for a decline in food and fuel sales for the month.” June exceeded expectation, with retail sales up by 1.5% in the second quarter overall, following a 1.4% fall in the first quarter. As inflation fell, the Office for National Statistics announced that retail sales annual growth in shop prices slowed to 2.7% in June from 3.2% in May.