Sainsbury’s, M&S and Currys call for business rates freeze
According to the British Retail Consortium, as things stand, business rates for retailers in England alone will increase by 6.7% next April, an additional £480m on bills
Supermarket retailers such as Sainsbury’s, M&S and Currys have urged the chancellor to freeze business rates for all retail businesses at the forthcoming Autumn Statement.
According to the British Retail Consortium, as things stand, business rates for retailers in England alone will increase by 6.7% next April, which represents an additional £480m on bills.
Sainsbury’s chief executive Simon Roberts told The Mail that the supermarket currently spends almost £500m on business rates a year.
He said: “If there’s one issue I am concerned about that could interrupt food inflation coming down, it is choices made in the Budget on business rates. There is clearly a risk that any increase will bring further pressure on food prices.’”
Meanwhile, M&S CEO Stuart Machin also said that increases to business rates could “threaten to divert millions of pounds away from ongoing investment in keeping prices down and creating jobs across the country”.
Alex Baldock, Currys chief executive also added that the sector was “overtaxed” and a hike in rates would allow Amazon a “a free ride while British retailers bear the burden, and while our town centres continue to be hollowed”.
The news comes after 44 of the UK’s “biggest” retailers, including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Aldi, Lidl and M&S, wrote to Hunt in September again calling for a freeze in business rates.
