Blacks Leisure told its shareholders last week that its outdoor retail sales dropped by 2.2 percent on a same-store basis in the 19 weeks ended on July 12, compared with a buoyant trading period at the same time last year. The British group’s total same-store sales fell by 5.4 percent for the period, due to a big drop of 15.5 percent in its board sports division. However, the period ended positively with a same-store sales increase of 6.1 percent for the first 12 days of July, as more British families decided to spend their holidays in the U.K. to save money, and pumped it into camping products.

The company said that its cost cuts were ahead of expectations, since it already achieved year-on-year savings of £2.4 million (€3.0m-$4.8m) against the target of £3 million (€3.7m-$6.0m) for the full financial year. Combined with improved margins, these cost reductions lifted profit before tax above the level of last year. Just as encouragingly, efforts to manage the group’s working capital have reduced stocks by 12.4 percent compared with the same time last year.

The two Blacks pilot stores recently opened with an upgraded format at Kensington and Holborn are trading above expectations, and the group is on track to convert 3 Blacks stores and two Millets outlets to new formats in September.

The latest sales trends at the group's Blacks and Millets stores are backed out by the findings of a new study showing that the British are tightening their belts for their annual holiday, and that the trend is similar in France and Germany. In light of rising prices and a weakening economy, 58 percent of the British people surveyed this year by Lightspeed Research said that they were more likely to stay home and just take day trips for their vacation. In France this figure was 60 percent and in Germany it was 54 percent. Twenty-one percent of those in the U.K. who are going somewhere said they would avoid the Eurozone, as the pound’s exchange rate has worsened.

However, 43 percent of British respondents said that they would cut back in other areas before they would give up their summer holiday. The areas most cited were clothing and shoe purchases, food takeout and restaurants. More than a third of those who responded, 37 percent, said they had changed their plans for the summer because of the economic situation. Even 56 percent of the mini-breakers surveyed said they were taking fewer short trips this year.