Consumers are still on the rocky road to economic stability, but there are signs of a long-term, sustainable recovery on the horizon.

It is almost six years since the British economy started growing again, yet the fact that uplift has fed through so unevenly and so slowly into the retail industry has made chief executives understandably reluctant to embrace the idea that a full-blown, sustainable consumer recovery is under way.

The latest retail sales figures from the British Retail Consortium are a case in point.

Retail like-for-likes jumped 3.2% in March, with food sales reaching their highest level since July 2013, rising 1.8% in the first quarter. Yet the sector has been careful to point out that the numbers were “flattered” by the early Easter weekend.

Meanwhile, concerns that low inflation is affecting margins and external forces such as ongoing eurozone turbulence and the election may yet shatter a fragile revival in consumer confidence, add to the sense of challenge.

As the BRC pointed out, April retail like-for-likes may prove disappointing without the boost of Easter.

But the sector should take heart that there are longer term signals – from employment rates to the performance of the housing market – pointing to a more sustainable recovery.

In particular, while low inflation may be a double-edged sword, it is directly easing the squeeze on the cost of living – which retail chiefs have long cited as holding back a recovery.

And the 20p minimum wage increase that takes effect in October, in an environment of zero inflation, will potentially be the biggest real-terms rise in wages in seven years and provide a significant fillip to the sector. While it could cost businesses more in wages, consumers may finally feel they have more money in their pockets.

However muted the celebrations, one hopes these will be genuine factors to cheer.

A new vintage at Majestic

The news that Majestic Wine has appointed the controversial founder of Naked Wines Rowan Gormley as its new chief executive at the same time that it acquired the online retailer certainly added sparkle to the deal.

Fans of Majestic will raise a glass to the acquisition as it battles against the commoditisation of wine in the UK and the stranglehold of the supermarkets on the sector.

The deal not only adds significantly to Majestic’s online presence and opens up the interesting prospect of click-and-collect for Naked enthusiasts but gives Majestic an interesting international foothold too.

However, Gormley will attract the most attention.

He has not only proven to be a radical thinker but has assembled a team adept at leveraging new ways of working – from its crowdsourcing model to partnerships and social media – to engage with wine drinkers and strip away the fusty stereotypes that can still characterise the sector.