Is it buy buy baby or bye bye baby  ?

High street retailer Mothercare is set to close over a hundred stores across the UK in a bid to slash costs.   

It has been confirmed that the retailer will shut 110 high street stores to focus instead on its out-of-town Parenting Centres and its booming operations abroad.

Mothercare says around 250 employees will lose their jobs as a result of the changes and the total store numbers will fall from 373 to 266 in the UK.

The retailer, which has a fast-growing business overseas, was hit by a £13.8m non-cash loss on currency hedges, as well as £3.6m of costs to restructure its head office in the UK.

The retailer had to sell more toys and winter clothes during the January sale period, after bad weather before Christmas and a drop in people's willingness to spend at the end of last year left Mothercare with stock to clear. That reduced profit margins by 2.5 percentage points.

The closures will reduce occupancy costs by about £18m, benefiting Mothercare's UK profit by at least £4m to £5m pounds a year from March 2013.

Consumer confidence has been hit hard by tax rises, job losses, public spending cuts and rising inflation.

Luckily it's not all doom and gloom for the UK though as British retail sales climbed more than expected in the month of April. According the Office for National Statistics the boost comes as a result of the extra holiday for the Royal Wedding and record temperatures.

Despite these strong results, sales volumes in the three months to April grew only 0.2pc; reflecting the scale of weakness in the retail sector. Consumer spending continues to be under pressure as high inflation is eroding real incomes, unemployment remains elevated and households are highly indebted. Therefore the broader picture remains one of immense weakness in the household sector, and retail sales are likely to disappoint over the coming months.