Budget
This coverage examines the UK government’s seasonal budget announcements and their implications for the retail sector. Reporting focuses on tax changes, business rates, employment policies, and economic forecasts that directly affect retailers, brand managers, and executives. With analysis tailored to commercial strategy, the insights help professionals assess how fiscal policy shapes retail operations, profitability, and investment decisions.
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Apr- 2019 -3 AprilSupermarkets
Aldi sees double digit sales growth in March
Budget supermarket Aldi saw sales increase by 10.6% for the 12 weeks to 24 March 2019, according to new figures from Kantar. The research, data and insight company said the results helped the grocer to achieve a new “record high” market share of 8%, and some 13 million households visited…
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1 AprilEconomy
Shops, pubs and restaurants to get £500m tax reprieve
Small firms on England’s embattled high streets are set to share in half a billion pounds worth of tax cuts as business rates bills are slashed, real estate adviser Altus Group has said. The government announced a business rates discount scheme for small sized high street properties in England which…
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Mar- 2019 -21 MarchGovernment
Retailers left waiting for rates discounts as deadline approaches
Businesses in England were promised millions of pounds in support by the chancellor last October but, less than two weeks before the start of the new tax year on 1 April, many are still either waiting for discounts worth up to £8,000 or haven’t yet applied. The government announced a…
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12 MarchGovernment
Digital Services Tax extended to include 2% ‘Amazon tax’
High streets government minister, Jake Berry, has promised to extend the Digital Services Tax to include a “2% tax on online retail” to save Britain’s high streets. Berry confirmed that the tax, announced at last October’s Autumn Budget, would be extended to online retailers saying if the government cannot secure…
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Feb- 2019 -12 FebruaryHigh Street
West End retailers face £45m rates hike in April
Retailers located in London’s West End are set to face a £45m rates tax increase in April, according to a report by real estate advisor Altus Group. Business rates help announced at the Autumn Budget last year, which promised to slash bills by a third for high street business in…
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Jan- 2019 -28 JanuaryEconomy
Online retail tax could be unlawful under EU rules, Treasury warns
The government has said taxing online giants, like Amazon, through a sales tax could be illegal under EU rules. Under European Union State aid rules it is illegal for EU countries to give financial advantage to some companies and not others in a way which could distort fair competition. The…
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7 JanuarySupermarkets
Aldi posts ‘record’ Christmas sales
Budget supermarket chain Aldi has has reported sales of almost £1bn for the month of December 2018, 10% higher than the previous year. The group said the week commencing 17 December was Aldi’s “busiest-ever in the UK”, and added that the strong sales performance was driven by a “surge in…
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Dec- 2018 -20 DecemberGovernment
MPs launch inquiry into business rates
The Treasury select committee has launched an inquiry into business rates as part of the Housing, Communities and Local Government committee’s wider inquiry into the high street. Chair of the Treasury select committee, Nicky Morgan said the two departments were expected to publish the terms of reference in the new…
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5 DecemberGovernment
Government clarifies details of new business rates relief
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has published guidance on the details of how business rates discounts first announced in this year’s Budget will be allocated. During the Budget on 29 October, chancellor Philip Hammond announced that businesses with a rateable value of under £51,000 would receive…
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Nov- 2018 -19 NovemberComment
Digital taxation, and what it means for small retailers
The chancellor’s Budget announcements will have certainly set a few pulses racing in the independent retail sector, for several reasons. Among the measures likely to have piqued the interests of British retailers were a property rates reduction for small businesses, a £675m ‘future high street’ investment plan, and a proposal…
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