The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has said that its expectations for the UK economy in the next three months is “exceptionally strong”.

In its latest monthly survey, data from the CBI showed that the retail sector was leading the charge, with the strongest output growth of any sector.

The CBI’s chief policy director Katja Hall said: "These latest growth figures, and the strong expectations for the next quarter, provide further encouraging signs of increasing vigour and confidence across the UK economy. While consumer spending accounted for the lion's share of GDP growth last year, there are firm indications of growth becoming more broad-based."