M&S has made a ‘back business, not burden it’ plea to the UK government ahead of next month’s crucial Autumn Budget. Chief executive Stuart Machin said his main hopes for the Budget include “no more taxes that hit consumers and the everyday economy”.
He said: “I don’t know what planet Treasury bureaucrats are on when they propose increasing VAT, a regressive tax that would hit working families and stoke inflation.”
Secondly, he wants action on business rates: “Shops need to be exempted from higher charges so they can remain anchors on high streets. Ministers thankfully seem to be moving on this point.”
He added: “The Chancellor has two paths ahead of her. More of the same: plugging fiscal holes with tax rises, stoking inflation and suppressing demand. Or change course: spend less, borrow less, tax less, regulate less, reduce inflation and enable growth.
He noted that over the last year “retail has been hit by an alphabet soup of taxes and regulations”… new packaging taxes – extended producer responsibility, or EPR… cost[ing] M&S almost £40 million a year.”
And he concluded: “I think retail has a big role to play in the Government’s plan. We’re the engine of the everyday economy – creating jobs, driving high street footfall, and making sure families get affordable and high-quality food, clothes and other essential goods.”
