SNIPPETS FROM RETAILSECTOR.CO.UK
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BUSINESS RATES
Retailers
waiting for
rates discounts
as deadline
approaches
Businesses in England were
promised millions of pounds in
support by the chancellor last
October but, less than 2 weeks
before the start of the new tax
year on 1 April, many are still either
waiting for discounts worth up to
£8,000 or haven’t yet applied.
The government announced a
business rates discount scheme for
small sized high street properties
in England which have a rateable
value below £51,000 at the 2018
Autumn Budget.
Under the scheme, ratepayers are
set to receive a one third discount
from their bill in 2019/20 and
2020/21 subject to state aid rules
which Philip Hammond said would
help “up to 90% of all independent
shops, pubs, restaurants and cafes.”
However, over 1,000 retail premises
in the city of York eligible for the
discount have received new tax
demands without the discount being
applied only to be told that the
council was awaiting for software to
allow them to calculate and apply
the discount.
Richmond Council said just 400
business premises have applied for
the new relief so far, out of 1,250 that
are eligible. Furthermore, Invest In
Bath said less than half of the 800
retailers eligible for the one third
discount have so far applied despite
demands being sent out.
Additionally, the council in
Leicester said it was helping 932
small retail premises adding “the
majority of eligible businesses will
automatically receive the discount
without having to apply for it,
although businesses with multiple
properties will need to apply to
ensure the discount doesn’t exceed
European state aid limits.”
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RETAIL SALES CRIME
Retail sales have bounced back slightly
February 2019, as the quantity bought
increased by 0.4% during the month.
In the three months to February 2019,
the quantity bought increased by 0.7%
when compared with the previous
three months, with strong growth in
non-store retailing and fuel. The British Retail Consortium’s (BRC)
annual Retail Crime Survey has
revealed the total cost of crime and
crime prevention for retailers was £1.9
billion last year.
This was up 12% from the
previous year (£1.7bn) and was
made up of £900m direct cost from
retail crime, and £1bn spent in
efforts to prevent crime.
The direct costs of crime included
a £700m loss arising from customer
theft, a 31% rise on the previous
year. The BRC said the total is
equivalent to approximately 20% of
the estimated profits of the entire
retail industry.
The survey revealed that 115 retail
employees were attacked at work
every day. The use of knives by
assailants was pointed out as an
issue of significant concern.
Approximately 70% of respondents
described the police response to
retail crime as poor or very poor. And
while opinions showed the police
response was generally better for
violent incidents, as compared to
customer theft or fraud, only 20% of
respondents considered the response
good or excellent.
Helen Dickinson OBE, chief
executive of the British Retail
Consortium, said: “Violence against
employees remains one of the
most pressing issues retailers face,
yet once again we have seen an
increase in the overall number of
incidents. Such crimes harm not just
hardworking employees, but also on
their families and communities. No
one should go to work fearing threats
and abuse.
“The spiralling cost of retail crime
– both in losses and the cost of
prevention – are a huge burden to a
retail sector that is already weighed
down by the twin challenges of
skyrocketing business costs and
Brexit uncertainty.
Retail sales
bounce back in
February
Year-on-year growth in the quantity
bought in February 2019 increased by
4%, with growth in all main sectors, while
the only sub-sector to show a decline
within non-food stores was household
goods stores at negative 1.3%.
However, the monthly fall in food
stores was the strongest decline
since December 2016 at negative
1.5%, reversing the increase of 0.9%
in January 2019, with food retailers
suggesting that “getting back to
normal” following the January sales had
contributed to this fall.
Online sales as a proportion of all
retailing also fell to 17.6% in February
2019 from the 18.8% reported in
January 2019; this was a year-on-year
increase of 9.4% when compared with
February 2018.
Rhian Murphy, head of retail sales at
the ONS, said: “Retail sales continued
to bounce back in the three months to
February with strong increases in fuel
sales and online shopping. Food growth
slowed, however, due to a significant fall
for supermarkets, specialist food and
alcohol stores in February after the sales
and promotions seen in January came
to an end.”
Crime cost
retailers £1.9bn
last year
April 2019 | jewelleryfocus.co.uk