Chancellor announcement leaves retail sector disappointed - Bira

The British Independent Retail Association (Bira) has expressed its disappointment that Chancellor Rishi Sunak 's latest round of support measures did not include retail.

The Chancellor yesterday announced a new £1bn support package for firms in the hospitality sector, with a surge in new Covid-19 cases significantly impacting on business.

But Bira says independent retail as been forgotten by the government.

Bira's CEO Andrew Goodacre (pictured) said: “Independent retail, and retail in general, will feel very disappointed with this announcement today by the Chancellor. Retail seems to be the forgotten part of the high street.

"Shops do not have cancelled bookings to shout about, however they do have lower footfall, cancelled trips to the shops and therefore cancelled purchases at a critical time of year - just as much damage but just not as 'visible '.

“The Chancellor claims to respond proportionately but he has done nothing for independent retail, pointing us to existing support schemes such as rates reductions. They do exist, but they exist to help businesses recover from previous damaging lockdowns, not to deal with a brand new crisis such as Omicron. This is why new support for struggling retailers is required.

"The high street is a mixture of inter dependent businesses from hospitality, leisure and retail.

“If one of these fails, the high street is a worse place to be with other businesses suffering.it will cost the government a lot more to put right in the future compared to helping save livelihoods and jobs now."