RETAIL leaders in Scotland have called on ministers to take action to boost the sector following a washout January when food sales fell at a record rate.

The Scottish Retail Consortium found total sales of food plunged by 5.8 per cent last month compared with the same period last year as some of the wettest January weather for a century kept shoppers away from stores.

The latest retail sales monitor produced by the consortium with KPMG found that bad weather also put the brakes on non-food sales.

The figures suggest retailers are having a much tougher time in Scotland than in other parts of the UK.

While total sales fell in Scotland at the fastest rate in almost four years in January they increased strongly across the UK.

David McCorquodale, Head of Retail at KPMG, noted retailers in Scotland are grappling with the fallout from the downturn in the oil and gas industry which has led to thousands of job losses.

The Scottish Retail Consortium said the more buoyant state of the housing market in South East England could be a factor.

As incomes are slightly lower in Scotland, supermarkets may be more reliant on discounting on essential lines of food to help drive sales in the country than elsewhere. Deep discounting is rife across the UK.

The consortium said the figures underlined the need for ministers on both sides of the border to do what they could to boost stores at a time when the sector

Is undergoing seismic changes.

The rise of online shopping has posed huge challenges for stores groups, which are facing increased competition for business and need to invest heavily in new sales and delivery systems.

David Lonsdale, director of the Scottish Retail Consortium, said: “With the Chancellor’s Budget just a month away and the publication of the Holyrood election manifestos almost upon us, Scotland’s retailers will be looking for measures which will further improve consumer confidence, boost disposable incomes and keep down the cost of living.”

The consortium also sounded the alarm about official measures that it warned could result in a big increase in the costs faced by retailers. These include the Apprenticeship Levy, which will be levied on larger employers from 2017 and the National Living Wage, due to take effect from April.

Noting that retail remains Scotland’s largest private sector employer, Mr Lonsdale said: “Government-imposed tax and regulatory costs keep ratcheting up.”

The British Retail Consortium reckons firms will have to find an additional £14 billion to meet the combined cost of the National Living Wage, Apprenticeship Levy and increased Business Rates bills over the next four years.

Based on population, Scotland’s share would be around £1bn.

In December the retail consortium welcomed the Scottish Government’s promise to review the business rates system. But it said the decision to double the rates supplement on medium and larger sized commercial premises was troubling.

In a submission to the Chancellor the British Retail Consortium noted the number of town centre shops has declined from 149,000 in 2004 to 129,000 in 2014. It reckons there will be 8,000 fewer shops by 2017.

The BRC said the Apprenticeship Levy should be “phased in” starting at 0.25 per cent of total payroll costs rather than the 0.5 per cent currently planned.

The results of the latest Retail Sales Monitor suggest firms across the retail spectrum in Scotland found the going was tough in January.

The fall in total food sales was the biggest in percentage terms since records began in 1999.

After taking account of online business, non-food sales increased by just 0.2 per cent year on year.

However Mr Lonsdale said sales of larger furniture items held up well. The weather boosted sales of winter clothing, boots and sport shoes.

Total sales fell by 3.8 per cent annually in Scotland in January, the biggest drop since April 2012. They increased by 3.3 per cent annually across the UK in January.

Stripping out the effect of changes in floor space, sales fell by four per cent on a like for like basis in Scotland. They increased by 2.6 per cent in the UK.