Harrods boss calls for return of VAT-free shopping for overseas visitors
Other organisations including VisitBritain, luxury trade body Walpole and Heathrow airport have also joined in calls to restore tax-free shopping for overseas tourists
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The managing director of Harrods, Michael Ward, has called on the government to rethink its removal of VAT-free shopping for overseas visitors in a bid to boost luxury shopping in London.
Ward, who is also the chairman of Knightsbridge Partnership, told The Times: “We’re in the middle of a difficult time for the UK economy and the government should be seizing opportunities to grow. I think it might be time for them to wake up and smell the coffee.”
Other organisations including VisitBritain, luxury trade body Walpole and Heathrow airport have also joined in calls to restore tax-free shopping for overseas tourists, warning that London is losing tourism business to cities such as Milan and Paris.
Earlier this week, Walpole CEO Helen Brocklebank told The Times: “If a next generation tax-free shopping scheme could be introduced, London’s status as the world’s number one luxury city would be guaranteed.”
Visitors from non-EU countries were previously able to recover VAT on purchases bought in the UK but the scheme was withdrawn on 31 December, 2020, during the pandemic.
In a recent report, Walpole, whose members include Harrods, Burberry and Mulberry, said the loss of the scheme was a “drag on both London’s and the UK’s economic performance”.
It added that if the government were to reinstate the scheme it would “further optimise” London’s “attractiveness as a city to visitors, businesses and investors alike”.
