Bernard Lewis, founder of River Island and one of the most revered names in British fashion, has lent his weight to Retail Week’s Backing UK Retail campaign and blasted the Government for not understanding the industry.
“Sometimes I think that the best thing they can do is to stay in bed all day, do nothing and leave us all alone,” the 82-year-old fashion legend said.
“There is no point in relying on the Government. The people there are, by and large, professional politicians. They have never had to, to use the American phase, meet a payroll.”
Lewis said some of the top UK retail leaders would be better placed to run the country. He said: “It would be a better world if they were in charge.”
Lewis told Retail Week the industry should be applauded as “remarkable” and “innovative”, especially in what he said is the worst downturn he has seen in his 61 years in the fashion industry.
Lewis also lambasted the way landlords base shop rents on evidence from neighbouring stores.
“Landlords keep shops empty and if they can persuade some person to give them a ridiculously high rent, it could be a madman, then that is what people have to pay. That is wrong.”
He believes a shift to monthly rents is inevitable. “I don’t think there is any argument. It will happen eventually,” he said.
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