More than 60 high street bosses have signed a letter calling for the lockdown in England to not be extended beyond December 2.
Sixty-one retail chief executives – including Steve Rowe from Marks & Spencer, Peter Cowgill from JD Sports and Alex Baldock from Dixons Carphone – signed the letter, which said non-essential retailers were losing £2bn a week in sales for every week of lockdown.
The letter to The Times said November and December account for a fifth of annual retail sales and lockdown, if extended, could result in hundreds of thousands of job losses across the sector.
Retail leaders said they urgently needed clarity from the government on its plans around December reopening and highlighted recent research by the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), which said closing non-essential shops would have a minimal impact on the spread of coronavirus.
The letter follows a host of retail bosses from businesses ranging from John Lewis to Primark and M&S calling for extended Sunday trading hours in the run-up to Christmas in a bid to make up for lost sales and spread demand.
BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said: “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. The government should extend the rents moratorium, giving essential breathing space to allow negotiations between retailers and landlords to continue. It must ensure retailers do not face an £8bn rates bill from 2021. And it must ensure shops can reopen from the start of December as the all-important Christmas shopping period gets into full swing.”
The letter in full
Sir, With less than two weeks to go until the chancellor’s spending review, it is vital that retailers get the clarity they need over the future. Christmas is fast-approaching and half of retail has been forced to shut – depriving these stores of around £2bn per week in sales.
November and December account for over a fifth of all retail sales and if all shops are not allowed to reopen by the start of December, many stores may never reopen putting hundreds of thousands of retail jobs at risk. A continued period of retail closure will see more shuttered high streets and many more job losses at the heart of the festive season.
Government reports have noted that the closure of shops would have a minimal impact on the transmission of Covid. Retailers have invested hundreds of millions in making their stores Covid-secure, keeping both customers and staff safe.
Yet retail stands on the brink and decisive government action is needed to save it. Retailers of all shapes and sizes must be allowed to reopen by the start of December. Without this, there will be little festive cheer left on our high streets.
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