The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has delivered a downbeat response to yesterday's Spring Budget, saying that the Chancellor's promises "will do nothing to turbo-charge investment and growth in communities".
Chief executive Helen Dickinson comments: “When shops we love shut down, when jobs we need are absent, and when investment we benefit from is lost, it’s our lives and our communities which lose out.
"Retail employs three million people and invests over £17b annually, yet the industry’s ambition to deliver a net-zero, digitally transformed future with higher-skilled, better-paid jobs means its potential goes so much further. It seems the Chancellor does not share in our ambition, and [this] Budget will do nothing to deliver a better future for retailers and their customers.
“The cost of living crisis has taken a toll on businesses and households. Consumer confidence remains low and retail sales volumes in 2023 were the lowest in four years. Yet the Chancellor has done little to promote growth and investment, instead hindering it with the business rates rise in April. This has consequences for jobs and local communities everywhere – from the smallest villages to the biggest cities.
“The cut to national insurance might go some way to supporting households impacted by the high cost of living. However, unless Government addresses the Government-imposed cost increases, we may yet see the spectre of higher inflation return, limiting the benefits to households of lower national insurance.”
Helen was particularly disappointed with the decisions made around Business Rates, stating: “Government inaction will now cost the retail industry £470m extra every year in business rates – money that could have been better spent improving our town and city centres, investing in lower prices, and maintaining jobs and commerce all over the UK. How can a whopping +6.7% tax rise in April be justified, when the Chancellor himself is saying inflation is forecast to be nearer +2%?
“This rise in rates does not exist in a vacuum – retailers are also contending with cost pressures throughout the supply chain, in the context of the largest increase to the National Living Wage on record.
“Government has had five years to fix the problems with business rates, as they promised in their election manifesto. Retailers pay over £7b a year in business rates – over 22% of the total raised by the tax. This is disproportionate, destructive, and any Government that is serious about growing the economy must address this as a matter of urgency.”
She also pointed out that, according to CEBR research, the UK economy is losing £11b a year because of the loss of tourism resulting from the lack of a tax-free shopping scheme.
She applauded measures to cut national insurance, alcohol and fuel duties, syaing that "putting more money into people’s pockets is the first step towards bolstering the UK’s weak consumer confidence and spending", yet pointed out that such improvements would only improve standards of living if inflation can be controlled.
Finally, she urged the Government to take more action to tackle burglaries and violent crime in retail, and criticised the Chancellor for missing another opportunity to fix the "broken" Apprenticeship Levy.
