Consumer confidence picked up in March following its record low in February, according to the Nationwide Building Society.

However, the Index remains at a historically low level, and the improvement in March has failed to reverse the fall suffered in the previous month.

Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, said: “When we compare the Index to its long-term average of 80 points it is clear that we will need to see a succession of increases before we can say that confidence has returned anywhere close to pre-recession levels.