Chancellor

Fortnum and Mason boss urges gov to scrap tourist tax

Fortnum and Mason boss Tom Athron has urged the government to scrap the tourist tax or risk businesses losing sales revenue to Paris, in an interview with This Is Money. Athron, chief executive of the luxury food store, stated that Paris was a “very attractive” destination for tourists due to…

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Today’s news in brief

Next has defended its chair, Michael Roney, after more than 20% of shareholders voted against his re-election at the annual general meeting. The votes against Roney were primarily due to concerns that he was “considered as overboarded,” with a secondary issue related to the gender makeup of the board. Under…

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Sainsbury’s, M&S and Currys call for business rates freeze

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…

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BRC welcomes government pledge to bring down inflation

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has welcomed the government’s pledge to bring down inflation as outlined in the King’s Speech yesterday (7 November). However, the body has criticised the decision to omit retail crime from its pledge for future crime legislation. As part of his speech the King announced that…

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October retail sales slow as consumers delay Christmas spending

Total UK retail sales increased by 2.5% in October, against a growth of 1.6% in October 2022 as consumers delay their Christmas spending in the hopes they can grab a bargain in the upcoming Black Friday sales, according to the BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor. The total sales growth was below…

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Shop price inflation reaches lowest point since August 2022

Shop price annual inflation has dropped to 5.2% in October, down from 6.2% in September, reaching its lowest point since August 2022, according to data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC). As a result the BRC has called upon the chancellor not to burden businesses with “unnecessary new costs” to…

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Retail sales drop in September as demand for household goods wanes

Retail sales have fallen by 0.9% in September, following a rise of 0.4% in August 2023, according to the new figures from the ONS.  Looking at the quarterly picture, sales volumes fell by 0.8% in the three months to September 2023 when compared with the previous three months.  Non-food stores…

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UK footfall decreases 2.9% in September, BRC says

Total UK footfall decreased by 2.9% in September (YoY), down from -1.6% in August, according to new data from the BRC.  High street footfall decreased by 1.7% in September, down from -0.9% in August, meanwhile retail parks footfall decreased by 2.4%, remaining the same in August. Shopping centre footfall decreased…

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Ofgem urged to act on rates as consultation into broker fees ends

Ofgem has been urged to act on “out of contract” rates by Box Power, the same social enterprise which helped force a consultation on hidden broker fees.  This comes as the consultation on transparency for energy broker fees has now ended, with Box Power CEO Corin Dalby saying the regulator…

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Retail leaders call for business rates freeze

Leaders of major retail businesses have written to chancellor Jeremy Hunt calling for a freeze in business rates in the upcoming budget, according to the Times. The CEOs of 44 of the UK’s biggest retailers such as Aldi and Ikea believe that more than £400m would be added to rates…

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