As the dust begins to settle on yesterday’s Autumn Budget, there has been a mixed reaction to it from across the business sphere. The financial markets reacted largely with relief and stability to a Budget that has been described as “boring” by some analysts, but there was some frustration from the retail sector.

Helen Dickson, chief executive at the British Retail Consortium, described Chancellor John Healey’s headline announcement on business rates as “smoke and mirrors.”

“The Chancellor’s headline announcement that he will ‘freeze [retail, hospitality and leisure] rates in real terms’ means a 3.5% increase – another body blow to high streets already struggling with rising costs and empty units,” she said.

“It will add around £250 million to retailers’ bills next April as one in seven shops lies empty. And while we welcome the decision to remove 70,000 small high street businesses from paying business rates altogether, the overwhelming proportion of employment and rates come from the 500,000 medium and larger retail outlets whose bills will go up once again.”

Dickson also highlighted the above-inflation rise to minimum wage and lack of reduction to employer’s National Insurance Contributions, which she said are likely to contribute to ongoing youth unemployment. “Retailers want to pay colleagues well, but Government cannot ignore the fact that today’s announcement adds another £2 billion on top of the £6.5 billion in additional employment costs that retailers have faced over the last two years,” she said.

Charlotte Bosworth, CEO at one of the largest vocational and apprenticeship training providers in the UK, Lifetime Training, agreed with Dickson that the Chancellor missed the mark regarding youth employment, despite Healey increasing the apprentice minimum wage.

Source link