The British Retail Consortium is calling on the UK’s political parties to ensure that business rates are made more sustainable and that retail crime becomes a standalone offence, as it gears up for the general election this year.
In its Manifesto for Retail: Accelerating Investment in the Everywhere Economy, seen exclusively by Retail Week ahead of its launch later today, the BRC has unveiled policy briefings on three key areas: customers and communities; better jobs; and net zero and the circular economy.
Protect customers and communities
The retail membership body has spelled out its vision for making business rates “more sustainable” for the industry – which, it says, accounts for 5% of the economy but pays 10% of business tax and 22% of rates.
It says the retail industry “agrees it is fair to pay a tax at a sustainable level”, but claims the current level of rates burden has cost the UK consumer 6,000 storefronts in the last five years.
“Urgent action must be taken to stop the business rates multiplier from increasing any further from its already unsustainable level,” the BRC manifesto says. “And to deliver fundamental reform to an outdated system that is holding back investment and leading to store closures.”
The BRC calls on the major political parties to freeze business rates “immediately”, while politicians and the industry “work to deliver more fundamental reform” and that whoever forms the next government should “commit to cutting the rates burden for all retailers and reducing the multiplier to its original level of 35p.”
Fast-track planning process
The next government is also petitioned to focus on improving planning policy for retailers. Current limitations present retailers with “considerable delays in processing planning applications and inconsistency of approach in local areas.”
Retailers “need a clear, effective and consistent planning system to support the transformation of the industry and community spaces alike.”
To deliver this, the BRC is calling on politicians to “introduce a fast-track planning approval system” for low-key applications; introduce a statutory time limit on the time taken for planning decisions; evolve the Landlord and Tenant Act, following a Law Commission review, to “better reflect the realities of modern property utilisation” and protect the principle of security of tenure.
Prioritise retail crime
Crime is also at the forefront of the BRC’s election campaigning on behalf of the retail sector.
The BRC says that incidences of violence, abuse and threats to colleagues are surging, while shoplifting has increased by 27% across ten of the UK’s largest cities over the last year.
“No-one should face threats, violence and abuse at work,” the BRC manifesto says. The sector needs “a greater policy prioritisation of retail” and a focus on “addressing antisocial behaviour and vagrancy in public spaces.”
To deliver this, BRC calls on the next government to “introduce a standalone offence of assaulting, threatening or abusing a retail working in England and Wales” and to work with the devolved administration in Northern Ireland to deliver similar protections.
The incoming government should also “work with the police to improve the prioritisation of retail crime in Police and Crime Commissioner strategies.”
Other policy recommendations in the manifesto cover better jobs, giving retailers greater flexibility when it comes to the apprenticeship levy, and a host of reforms to help the sector deliver on its net zero and circular economy goals.
BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said: “The UK has one of the most developed retail offerings in the world, employing three million people and playing a key role in every community in the country.
”As political parties gear up for the next election, we need a different way of working with government so that we can use the industry’s size, scale and reach to deliver more.
”That means removing the blockages which hold the industry back, preventing it reaching its full potential. It’s time to support the upskilling of workers, and accelerate our journey to net zero, while finding ways to address any unnecessary burdens on the industry and its sixty million customers.
“By delivering a more business-friendly approach to retail, the industry can deliver on its own vision – a net zero, digitally transformed industry which provides higher skilled, better paid jobs and more investment in local communities. It’s time to unleash the industry’s size, scale and reach to drive greater positive change.”
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