Nationwide: consumer morale at nine-month high "Much of the survey-based data has painted a more upbeat picture of the UK economy than official data in recent months - March's Consumer Confidence index continues that trend," said Robert Gardner, Nationwide's chief economist. "But with the economy expected to gather pace only slowly, the improvement in confidence may prove short-lived," he said. A recent GfK NOP survey found British consumer confidence unexpectedly fell to a three-month low in March as Britons grew increasingly worried about the outlook for their finances and for the economy as a whole. The Nationwide survey of 1,000 people was conducted between February 20 and March 25.