Retailers urged John Healey to “reverse the damage” of rising high street taxes as the Chancellor met industry bosses on Tuesday.
Top retailers including Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Marks & Spencer pressed Healey on business rates and youth unemployment but the Chancellor stopped short of confirming any Budget measures.
Healey hosted high street bosses at Number 11 Downing Street for a breakfast briefing on Tuesday, amid growing pressure for the government to slash taxes on retailers and hospitality firms.
The retailers in attendance – which also included Co-op – were accompanied by the bosses of industry bodies UK Hospitality (UKH), the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and the British Beauty Council.
Healey used the meeting to emphasise the importance of retailers and hospitality firms to the UK’s economy, as he stressed the “vibrancy of the high street,” according to a Treasury source.
The Chancellor used the meeting to hear from industry bosses about what the government can do to boost investment and secure breathing space for businesses. Healey did not give bosses any insight into his plans for this month’s Budget, it is understood.
Healey urged to reverse ‘years of damage’
BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson, who attended the meeting, said she urged Healey to unwind the tax rises implemented by his predecessor, Rachel Reeves. Her Treasury “whacked up” retailers’ taxes by 20 per cent in two years, including an extra £6.5bn in employment costs, she said.
“The Chancellor recognised these pressures, and we had a positive discussion about our shared ambition for growth and tackling youth unemployment,” Dickinson said.
“His first Budget is the chance to turn that ambition into action by easing costs, making tax fairer and unlocking investment. That is how we get retailers hiring, investing and creating opportunities for the next generation.”
Retail bosses reiterated their calls for Healey to avoid a so-called warehouse tax by hiking business rates on large retailers to pay for tax cuts for smaller firms.
Alongside the tax burden facing high street firms, industry bosses urged Healey to help them employ young people, as the number of under-25s not in education, employment or training (Neet) nears 1m.
UKH chief executive Allen Simpson, who met with Healey on Tuesday, said the summit was “a positive discussion about our shared agenda to fix the NEETs crisis and how the government can reverse the damage of the last two years to get young people back into work.”
“It’s clear to me that hospitality and the high street will hire NEETs in a way the rest of the economy simply cannot. It’s important the Chancellor recognises this and reduces hospitality’s tax burden at the Budget, to allow the sector to create jobs in every postcode,” he added.