Axing tourist tax would ease high street woes, says Pandora boss

Pandora UK&I general manager Rasmus Brix has said that in light of the cost-of-living crisis and ongoing train strikes, eliminating the tourist tax would create a “significant boost” for the high street.

Brix told The Mail the firm was “missing out” due to the absence of VAT-free shopping for visitors to the UK.

He added that scrapping the tax “could offer a significant boost for the retail sector and the economy as a whole”.

He said that VAT-free shopping would help to “offset some of the disruption we’re seeing as a result of the weather, cost-of-living and ongoing train strikes”.

Additionally, Brix stated that “tourists would spend more on their average purchase and choose more expensive jewels if they were eligible for a 20% refund on their purchases”.

Pandora recently raised its full year revenue outlook after delivering robust growth in Q2 2023.

The jewellery retailer saw its sales jump 5%, driven by 2% of like-for-like sales and 4% of network expansion.

The group has now updated its organic growth guidance range to +2% to +5%, which was previously -2% to +3%.

The boost in sales has been attributed to a broad-based pick up in traffic during the holiday season.

However, Pandora expects traffic to ease off after the holiday season and remains mindful of the macroeconomic climate.

Alexander Lacik, president and CEO of Pandora, said at the time: “We are pleased with delivering yet another solid quarter against a backdrop of macroeconomic uncertainty. We have consistently demonstrated that the foundations built under the Phoenix strategy are yielding positive results.

“We will continue to push ahead with our strategic initiatives for the second half of 2023 and beyond, including the expansion of our assortment in Diamonds and the ongoing roll-out of our new store concept, EVOKE 2.0. Given our solid performance so far, our updated guidance now sees another year of positive organic growth.”