Government urged to cut business rates to help Britain’s retail industry ‘survive and prosper’

THE Government has been urged to cut business rates to help Britain’s retail industry “survive and prosper”.

Andy Higginson, chairman of the British Retail Consortium, said: “We’re the UK’s biggest employer and we’re undervalued.”

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Speaking exclusively to The Sun, he said the retail industry, which employs around three million workers, is “paying more than its fair whack” in taxes and rates.

Mr Higginson, who is also chairman of JD Sports, is urging ministers to have an urgent rethink ahead of this year’s general election.

He said: “In most constituencies, retail workers account for around 20 per cent of the vote.

“That’s a powerful lobby that politicians should pay attention to.”

The BRC has published a manifesto calling on the Government for a more coordinated approach to tax and regulation.

Mr Higginson said: “We’re not asking for subsidies. We just want to survive and prosper and be a force for good in the country.”

The BRC estimates that the current rates burden has led to 6,000 store closures in five years.

There have been some big high street casualties, including Wilko, which shut 400 shops last autumn with the loss of around 12,000 jobs.

But there are still retailers willing to invest in the high street.

The Range owner CDS Superstores snapped up the Wilko brand and has already announced plans to open five stores.

Mr Higginson said: “We’re an industry that is keen to invest. And we’re keen to support many of the Government’s agendas, such as recycling, green issues and lower energy bills.”

Silver Spoons

JD WETHERSPOON boss Sir Tim Martin has reasons to be cheerful. Sales of his pub chain climbed 10 per cent in the last six months as it recovered from the pandemic-led hospitality crisis.

Bar sales were up 12 per cent and food sales climbed 8 per cent. Meanwhile use of its slot and fruit machines was up 10 per cent as more customers combined a punt with a pint.

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 Sir Tim, above, said: “Wetherspoon, like the hospitality industry, has seen a consistent but slow recovery, following the pandemic.”

However he said that labour and energy costs remain much higher than before the pandemic.

He complained that pubs have to pay higher VAT than supermarkets and also said rising staff costs are much more likely to impact the pub sector than grocery stores.

Sir Tim said pubs are having to increase the cost of a pint by 13.5p to cover extra staff costs.

A typical pint in a pub now costs £4.50 compared to £1 in supermarkets where extra staff costs amounted to a 1p increase on the price.

Wetherspoon closed 14 pubs in the half-year but opened two new ones near London’s Euston train station and at Heathrow Airport.

It now has 814 pubs, down from 826.

EasyJet’s Middle East woe

THE crisis in the Middle East cost easyJet more than £40million, the airline said.

The conflict hit tourist trips to Egypt and suspended flights to Israel and Jordan.

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The routes account for about 4 per cent of EasyJet’s winter flight schedule.

But boss Johan Lundgren claims its Egypt business is now recovering. He said: “It was impacted hard, but very quickly bounced back.”

The budget airline recorded a loss of £126million for the last three months of 2023, although that was up on the £133million loss over the same period the previous year.

Passenger numbers increased by 14 per cent year-on-year, it said.

EasyJet Holidays posted a profit of £30million for the period, up from £13million the previous year.

“We see positive booking momentum for summer 2024,” said Lundgren.

500 axed at ABRDN

INVESTMENT giant ABRDN plans to axe around 500 jobs as it tries to slash its costs by £150million per year.

Boss Stephen Bird said that turmoil in global politics has made investors jittery.

He said: “Market conditions have remained challenging for our mix of business.”

The fund manager plans to save costs by removing management layers and making outsourcing and technology more efficient. It still plans to pay out staff bonuses.

Shares slump at Revolution

REVOLUTION BARS shares slumped by a fifth yesterday after the firm said it would delay refurbishments to save cash.

The company — which operates 58 bars, a pub chain and a market hall — reduced its earnings guidance after January trade began “softly”. Traders then sold stock.

Boss Rob Pitcher said: “Our younger guests are still feeling the effects of the cost-of-living crisis.”

Revolution opened its 22nd Peach pub in November and saw weekly sales hit more than £1million for the first time over Christmas.

But the chain admitted it is unlikely to see growth in the second half of the financial year.

Tunnel of love

EUROSTAR passenger numbers climbed by over a fifth last year, the rail operator says.

It carried 18.6million in 2023, a return to the pre-pandemic levels.

Its three main routes out of London St Pancras were all up — by 38 per cent to Amsterdam, by 33 per cent to Brussels and by 25 per cent to Paris. The company expects to carry nearly two million passengers to the French capital for this summer’s Olympic and Paralympic Games.

 It also hopes to reach 30million passengers by 2030.

THE UK private sector is growing faster than expected, the latest S&P/CIPS PMI economic survey for January reveals. It came to 52.5, a seven-month high. Firms say demand among customers is stronger thanks to lower borrowing costs.

Not Aldi same

SUPERMARKET chain Aldi has been told it can continue to sell its cloudy cider after winning a court case against drinks firm Thatchers.

The Somerset-based brewer sued Aldi, claiming it infringed the trademark of its “cloudy lemon cider”.

Thatchers said Aldi’s Taurus brand “copycatted” theirs.

 But yesterday Judge Melissa Clarke dismissed the case, saying there was a “low degree of similarity” and “no likelihood of confusion”.

Aldi said: “There’s nothing cloudy about this judgement.”

This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk