The depressed UK consumer
Aug 19, 2022
As a follow-up on yesterday’s daily Instagraph on inflation in the UK, consumer confidence in is now at levels not seen in at least half a century. The British are less confident today than they were during the oil shock, the ERM crisis, 2008 and Covid-19. This does not bode well for the UK as household consumption is the largest element of expenditure across the economy, accounting for 59% of the total in 2021. In our portfolios, we currently tend to shy away from investing in companies heavily exposed to the UK consumer, like UK housebuilders and consumer discretionary stocks.
