Retailers are pressing Andy Burnham to cut taxes and help them hire young people, laying out a list of demands as the Prime Minister-to-be prepares to take office. The British Retail Consortium, which represents the UK’s largest retailers, urged Burnham to “buy into retail” as part of his promise to support local communities and high streets.
The trade body said members have absorbed an extra £6.5bn in employment costs since 2024, on top of rising business rates and new packaging taxes. Retail leaders have criticized the government for raising business rates, minimum wages, and national insurance contributions, arguing those tax hikes threaten the survival of British high streets.
Retailers want a youth employment task force
The BRC is in talks with Burnham’s team over its demands, which include reversing the wage and NIC hikes and slashing business rates. The central ask revolves around youth unemployment. The body says recent increases to employment costs have made the crisis worse and must be reversed.
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Burnham should launch a task force with retailers to expand routes for young people into employment, the BRC said. Earlier this year, a review by former health secretary Alan Milburn blamed the welfare state and social media for the nearly 1m young people not in education, work or training. That represents a large cohort of idle youth.
It comes at a time when the retail sector is already carrying a heavy tax burden. The BRC claims retailers pay 75 per cent of their profits in tax, and their business rates bills have climbed by £1.8bn in the last two years.
For a newcomer to British politics, it might seem odd that retailers are turning to a regional mayor for help with national tax policy. Burnham is no ordinary mayor. He beat the odds to become Labour leader in waiting, and his pledge to rebuild high streets has given the retail industry a direct line to the next occupant of Downing Street. The BRC is betting that Burnham’s localist pitch means he’ll listen to the businesses that actually anchor town centers.
During a major policy speech in Manchester last month, Burnham promised a high street “renaissance” and stressed the importance of local businesses and communities. The trade group said those businesses are crying out for more support.
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“Andy Burnham has made collaborating with business to drive growth, high streets, and living standards central to his ambition,” said Helen Dickinson, the BRC’s chief executive. “Retail is a key partner to deliver it: with the right policies, retail can drive investment, support jobs in every postcode, and keep household essentials affordable.”
The BRC argues that high business rates slow growth and innovation. “When rates are high, retailers hire and invest less, growth and innovation slows, and shoppers pay higher prices,” it claims.
Burnham has already committed to expanding business rates relief to more small companies, in exchange for hiking tax on out-of-town warehouses. Other trade bodies are also pressing him to cut bricks-and-mortar companies’ business rates bills by 37 per cent in exchange for a two per cent levy on online sales. Whether he will meet the retailers’ demands remains unclear. His team is still in talks with the BRC, and it is pushing for concrete commitments before Burnham takes the keys to Number 10.
