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Over 60 UK CEOs say retail must reopen by start of Dec
17 Nov '20
2 min read
Pic: Shutterstock
Over 60 chief executive officers (CEOs) from the UK retail sector recently wrote to ‘The Times’ voicing their concern over the impact of the forced closure of ‘non-essential’ retailers during the current lockdown. These closures come despite a recent Sage paper reporting that closing ‘non-essential’ retail would have minimal impact on the transmission of the novel coronavirus.
Christmas is fast-approaching and half of retail has been forced to shut–depriving these stores of around £2 billion per week in sales, the letter said.
November and December account for over a fifth of all retail sales and if all shops are not allowed to reopen by the beginning of December, many stores may never reopen putting hundreds of thousands of retail jobs at risk, it said.
A continued period of retail closure will see more shuttered high streets and many more job losses at the heart of the festive season, the letter said.
Retailers have invested hundreds of millions in making their stores secure from the novel coronavirus, keeping both customers and staff safe. Yet retail stands on the brink and decisive government action is needed to save it, the letter added.
In the first few days of lockdown, data from a British Retail Consortium (BRC)-ShopperTrak showed that footfall plummeted by 75 per cent.
“The closure of thousands of retailers is compounding the challenges facing our high streets….To avoid local communities being hit hard by large scale shop closures and job losses, the Chancellor must address three issues–rents, rates and reopening. Government should extend the rents moratorium, giving essential breathing space to allow negotiations between retailers and landlords to continue. They must ensure retailers do not face an £8bn rates bill from 2021,” BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said in a statement.
Christmas is fast-approaching and half of retail has been forced to shut–depriving these stores of around £2 billion per week in sales, the letter said.
November and December account for over a fifth of all retail sales and if all shops are not allowed to reopen by the beginning of December, many stores may never reopen putting hundreds of thousands of retail jobs at risk, it said.
A continued period of retail closure will see more shuttered high streets and many more job losses at the heart of the festive season, the letter said.
Retailers have invested hundreds of millions in making their stores secure from the novel coronavirus, keeping both customers and staff safe. Yet retail stands on the brink and decisive government action is needed to save it, the letter added.
In the first few days of lockdown, data from a British Retail Consortium (BRC)-ShopperTrak showed that footfall plummeted by 75 per cent.
“The closure of thousands of retailers is compounding the challenges facing our high streets….To avoid local communities being hit hard by large scale shop closures and job losses, the Chancellor must address three issues–rents, rates and reopening. Government should extend the rents moratorium, giving essential breathing space to allow negotiations between retailers and landlords to continue. They must ensure retailers do not face an £8bn rates bill from 2021,” BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said in a statement.
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