A retail industry body has rounded angrily on the chancellor, claiming his autumn statement is a “sell out” that risks forcing up the pace of price rises at the shops again.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said Jeremy Hunt’s measures, taken together, were not enough to support struggling high streets in the run-up to a crucial Christmas that has been dogged, so far, by consumer caution.
Recent official figures showed sales volumes at COVID lockdown levels.
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The BRC was particularly scathing of the chancellor’s announcements on business rates – a tax, it has long argued, that is in desperate need of reform.
The chancellor confirmed that the standard multiplier for rates on high-value properties will increase in line with inflation, following a three-year freeze, at a rate of 6.7%.
He revealed that the small business multiplier would remain frozen for a further year and that the 75% rates discount for retail, hospitality and leisure will all be extended for another year.
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The BRC pointed out that the discount did not apply to major chains, the largest employers, who were also being told to swallow a big rise in the national living wage at the same time.
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It spoke up as supermarkets discount heavily to attract and retain customers for the festive season bonanza ahead – offers that tend to fall away after Christmas.
Industry data has suggested that the practice has helped bring down grocery inflation – returning to single-digits last month for the first time since July 2022.
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But BRC chief executive, Helen Dickinson, said the autumn statement risked an end to the trend of easing price growth given the burden its members were being asked to take.
“Retailers and their customers have been sold out by the chancellor’s statement, which does not do enough to support shops, shoppers, and an industry that employs over three million people, and many more across its supply chains.
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“As we enter the Christmas period, this autumn statement will serve only to renew inflationary pressures that ultimately harm households.
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“The chancellor has poured fuel on the fire spreading across our high streets with a tax hike on shops and other businesses.
“His decision to increase the business rates standard multiplier will cost retailers hundreds of millions every year.
“Rather than introduce the meaningful reforms that were promised in the government’s 2019 manifesto, the Chancellor is now letting the tax spiral out of control, driving up costs just as retailers’ efforts to curb inflation have started to bear fruit,” she said.
