The year 2020 was the worst year on record for UK retail sales growth, with in-store non-food declining by 24 per cent compared with 2019, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC), which recently said these results have also been reflected in footfall, which was down by over 40 per cent last year. The three lockdowns cost ‘non-food’ stores–mainly ‘non-essential’ retail—an estimated £22 billion in lost sales.
Furthermore, tighter restrictions in the crucial run-up to Christmas hampered retailers’ ability to generate much-needed turnover, which would have helped power their recovery in 2021, BRC said in a press release.2020 was the worst year on record for UK retail sales growth, with in-store non-food declining by 24 per cent compared with 2019, according to the British Retail Consortium, which said the results also reflect in footfall, which was down by over 40 per cent last year. The three lockdowns cost 'non-food' stores an estimated £22 billion in lost sales.#
Retailers contributed £17 billion in business taxes in 2019, collecting a further £46 billion in value-added tax.
BRC believes action on rates, rents and grants is crucial in the upcoming budget to the recovery of ‘non-essential’ retailers and the wider economy, preventing the further loss of thousands of jobs in communities across the country.
An extension to business rates relief for the worst-affected businesses will reduce the unsustainable cost burden on retailers, giving them a fighting chance to continue trading, employing staff and serving their communities, it said.
An extension to the moratorium on debt enforcement will support thousands of retailers who face accumulating rents even while their stores are unable to trade due to government restrictions, it said.
The decision to apply European Union state aid limits to lockdown grants should be reversed and all bureaucratic restrictions stopping businesses receiving these vital support funds promised by the chancellor of the exchequer should be removed, it suggested.
These short-term actions will be crucial to allowing ‘non-essential’ retail to survive through a prolonged period of closure, avoiding administrations, shop closures and job losses, it added.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
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