Oxfam Sales Rise To £90m Despite Recession

Oxfam has reported a sharp increase in sales from its high street shops, with a growth of 5% taking its retail sales last year to £90m.

While much of the high street stuggles, Oxfams growth highlights changing habits amid the bleak economic conditions.

The charity says it has benefitted from new customers in the recession but that sales are more dependent on what people donate to the shops.

"Selling good quality donated goods is easy," said Oxfam's finance director Bob Humphreys.

"The difficulty is to get the flow of donated goods through. We work with a lot of major supermarkets, so we've got clothes banks in Sainsbury car parks, but primarily it is people clearing out their wardrobes on a regular basis."

The pattern has been repeated among other charities.

The Charity Retail Association says sales at charity shops rose 3% in the first quarter compared with the same period last year. That contrasts sharply with commercial shops, which saw a 0.1% drop in like-for-like sales in the first quarter, according to figures from the British Retail Consortium.

Despite the growth Oxfam is concerned about how the ongoing financial crisis will hit income this year. "In individual giving, of course we are worried," says Humphreys.

"It's only a couple of months since the UK fell into a double dip recession. That's happening to an increasing number of eurozone countries. Combined with the pressure from austerity measures, that's bound to have an impact on our supporters. But touch wood, things seem to be going OK."

(H)