High street giants plot new warning to Treasury over retail jobs
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Retail giants including Asda, Marks & Spencer, Primark and Tesco will mount a new year campaign to warn Rachel Reeves that plans to hike business rates on larger shops will put jobs and stores under threat. Sky News has learnt that some of Britain's biggest chains - which also include J Sainsbury, Morrisons and Kingfisher-owned B&Q - have agreed to revive a group called the Retail Jobs Alliance (RJA).
Sources said the RJA, which was established to push for reform of Britain's archaic business rates regime, is expected to engage with the Treasury in the coming weeks to say that a wave of tax rises and regulatory changes will threaten investment by major retailers in economically deprived areas of the country.
They intend to produce analysis showing that many of the stores with so-called rateable values above a new £500,000 threshold are located in areas which rely on retailers for employment opportunities. The revamped coalition is expected to be launched in January and is likely to include other high street names, according to insiders.
It is said to be coordinating its plans with the British Retail Consortium (BRC), the industry's leading trade body. In total, the RJA's members employ more than 1m people across Britain. Sycamore bid for Walgreens paves way for fresh Boots auction. Burberry launches High Court action against discount retailer B&M.
