Retail news round-up on July 10, 2015: Third of retail workers won’t qualify for the living wage, Reiss stake sale and Mastercard overcharging.
One third of retail workers could miss out on living wage rises
The British Retail Consortium said that around one million retail workers might miss out on the Government’s living wage pay rise to £9 an hour by 2020 because they are under 25 years old, according to the Independent. The shop workers’ union Usdaw attacked the Government’s decision to implement an age threshold.
John Hannett, Usdaw general secretary, warned: “Usdaw has successfully negotiated an end to age-related pay with all the major retailers that we have an agreement with. So the Government’s announcement of a new pay scale for those over 25 is unwelcome and out of touch with good employment practices.”
Reiss eyes minority stake sale to outside investors
Fashion retailer Reiss is considering offloading a minority stake in the firm to outside investors for the first time, Sky News reported. The chain’s founder David Reiss has hired investment bank Morgan Stanley to carry out a review of options for the deal, which could value the upmarket fashion retailer at up to £325m.
The process, which is at an early stage, is not likely to lead to a deal until the end of this year or early 2016, according to insiders.
EU accuses Mastercard of overcharging customers
Mastercard has been accused of overcharging customers and retailers in the EU, the BBC reported. “We currently suspect Mastercard is artificially raising the costs of card payments,” said the EU statement. The credit card company said it was “working with the European Commission on the issue” and was preparing a formal response.
Officials say they are concerned that Mastercard violates competition rules by requiring retailers to pay artificially inflated fees to process credit card transactions.
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