Government
The latest news, updates and analysis on the government and what it is doing that affects the UK retail industry. Sign up to the Daily Briefing and let Retail Sector’s business journalists keep you in the picture.
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Aug- 2022 -11 August
Rishi Sunak commits to reducing business rates if elected PM
Rishi Sunak has vowed to slash business rates this autumn during the Conservative leadership debate at the Darlington Hippodrome theatre. The former chancellor committed to extending the current 50% reduction in his first budget as prime minister, saying that small retailers are the “beating hearts of all our communities”. Sunak…
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9 August
Retail Jobs Alliance calls on next PM to reduce business rates
The Retail Jobs Alliance, a coalition of retailers including Morrisons, Greggs and Tesco, has called on both Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss to pledge to cut business rates, which it said were “killing our high streets”. The group, also consisting of Co-op, Kingfisher,, RivingtonHark, Sainsbury’s, and Waterstones, said it feared…
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5 August
UK recession can be averted, claims Truss
In an interview with Sky News’s Kay Burley last night (4 August), foreign secretary Liz Truss claimed she could avert a recession if she wins the leadership contest. The claim comes after the Bank of England projected that the UK would enter a recession in this year’s fourth quarter, with…
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1 August
Sunak pledges to slash empty high street shops by 2025
Rishi Sunak has pledged to slash the number of boarded up high street shops by 2025 if he wins his Tory leadership bid, by enabling local authorities to quickly seize and repurpose empty commercial buildings. In his latest pitch to party members, who are shortly set to receive ballots for…
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Jul- 2022 -25 July
Leicester factory workers not reporting underpayment, LPC finds
Workers in Leicester textile factories are reportedly “vulnerable to exploitation” and unlikely to report abuses and underpayment, according to a new report from the Low Pay Commission (LPC). The report examined non-compliance and enforcement of the minimum wage in Leicester’s textiles manufacturers. It comes as multiple agencies have carried out…
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20 July
Brazel’s win to place financial burden on thousands of employers
The Supreme Court has today (20 July) ruled that employees who only work for part of the year are entitled to the same holiday pay as colleagues who work the full year, which could lead to umbrella companies liable for thousands of claims for backdated holiday pay, law firm Irwin…
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Jun- 2022 -27 June
Asda joins retailers in rejecting online sales tax
Asda has reportedly told the government that introducing an online sales tax (OST) will harm retailers and shoppers that are already affected with rising inflation, according to The Daily Express. The supermarket chain was one of a number of retail groups to meet with Lucy Frazer, the financial secretary to…
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Mar- 2022 -23 March
Spring Statement: Chancellor raises NI threshold to £12,570
The chancellor has outlined a series of measures to help combat the rising cost of living in his latest spring statement, including increasing the national insurance threshold by £3,000. Speaking in parliament today (23 March), Rishi Sunak began his speech by warning it is yet unclear what the impact of…
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Feb- 2022 -21 February
Matalan founder Hargeaves loses 20-year court battle over tax bill
Matalan founder John Hargreaves has lost a long-running court battle with HMRC as he attempts to avoid a tax bill that may reach up to £135m. He has now been ordered to pay the tax bill after the Upper Tier Tribunal ruled he owes Capital Gains Tax in relation to…
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Dec- 2021 -21 December
Sunak unveils £1bn support package for Omicron-hit businesses
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced a further £1bn support package for businesses impacted by the new Omicron variant. As part of the support, businesses in the hospitality and leisure sectors in England will be eligible for one-off grants of up to £6,000 per premises. There will also be more than…
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