Revivals and reinstatements: What UK retail is demanding from the incoming government

The UK’s general election is moving swiftly upon us. With a shorter time frame than initially expected, national retail organisations are clamouring to get their requests publicly pushed out to ensure their calls for change are heard.

Here are just some of what the many UK-based organisations – British Independent Retailers Association (Bira), Fashion Roundtable, UK Fashion and Textile Association (UKFT), New West End Company (NWEC), British Retail Consortium (BRC) and the British Fashion Council (BFC) – are calling on from the incoming government.

Retail crime

Top of the agenda for many organisations is solving the worryingly increasing retail crime rate across the country, a plea that has seemingly been heard in the manifestos of both Conservative and Labour parties, both of whom emphasise the need for new measures to address attacks on retail staff.

While Bira CEO Andrew Goodacre requested a heightened police presence and better protection for staff and owners, director of the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC), David Lonsdale, noted that the need for retailers to “shell out more to combat thefts” add onto other statutory costs such as hikes in business rates and transportation costs.

STEAM and fashion education

Among the many making their voices heard was a cry for support within the educational sector. Both the BFC and Fashion Roundtable noted a need for the backing of STEAM education, including Arts among the current ‘STEM’ programmes already invested in for higher education. This extended into BFC’s call to encourage a new generation to move towards creative skills through related development schemes in a bid to future-proof the local industry.

The BRC, meanwhile, reaffirmed its appeal to reform the Apprenticeship Levy, a request the organisation has been pushing for in recent years. While the Conservative party has made a pledge to expand on the number of apprenticeships, this does not go far enough for chief executive Helen Dickinson, who said that the “rigidity” of the existing scheme “means that many businesses are unable to draw upon their own funds, meaning vital opportunities to upskill the workforce are lost”. Dickinson called for a wider skills levy that would allow retailers to invest in training such as pre-employment courses and functional-based short courses to “meet the needs of a modern workforce”.

Local investments: High streets and designers alike

One of the core requests from all of the organisations is a plea to revitalise high streets and the resulting footfall, as well as local industry as whole. At the BRC, which reported a drop of 3.6 percent for footfall in May and 7.2 percent in April, Dickinson said that political parties have a “role to play by having policies that mean retailers can invest in rejuvenating shopping destinations across the UK”. The chief executive pointed to the “broken business rates system” that she said were “holding back the industry”.

For the BFC, meanwhile, this would come in the form of investments into UK fashion designers, with a particular focus on funnelling support into bringing international buyers and press into the country for London Fashion Week. Through this, the organisation hopes that local designers can have better access to international markets and trade shows, alongside “more targeted trade missions and a strategic approach to reducing trade barriers with the European market post-Brexit”.

Reinstating tax-free shopping

In what has continued to be a central demand from retailers, businesses and associated organisations alike, many have reaffirmed their insistence on reintroducing tax-free shopping to the UK, a scheme Rishi Sunak dismantled on his appointment as prime minister. Since the move, hoards of businesses have come out condemning Sunak’s decision, with similarly damning reports claiming that the halt on the scheme has deeply damaged the UK’s economy. In January, the Centre for Economics and Business Research, for example, said “tourist tax” cost the region 11.1 billion pounds in lost gross domestic product.

The BFC also stood by its call to reinstate tax-free shopping in its own manifesto, noting that in the fourth quarter of 2023, London’s West End experienced a drop of 15 percent in international visitor numbers compared to the same period in 2019. BFC chairman, David Pemsel, added: “The UK is now the only major economy in Europe not to offer tax-free shopping to overseas visitors. This places UK fashion designers, retailers and manufacturers at a significant competitive disadvantage compared to other markets.”

Business rates and economic growth

In addition to this, organisations are asking for a more distinct approach to growth among the UK as a whole. Bira, for example, highlighted the need to readdress current business rates in the country, stating with urgency that they either needed to be reduced or “preferably” eliminated. The organisation added: “Bira was instrumental in introducing retail discount, and now seeks to make it a permanent 75 percent reduction. It would also like to see the multiplier lowered to 35 pence in the pound.”