Business chiefs warn 100,000 high street jobs at threat under Labour plan for rates shake-up

UP to 100,000 high street jobs are at risk if Labour goes ahead with a tax shake-up, industry bosses have warned.

- BY GRAHAM HISCOTT Head of Business

The British Retail Consortium says the jobs could be lost across 400 of Britain's biggest shops if a proposed overhaul of business rates goes ahead, putting large stores into a higher business rates tax band.

The stark assessment applies to shops from supermarkets to department stores.

There are around 4,000 large stores with a rateable value of more than £500,000, the band’s proposed threshold, says the BRC.

It also warns that if all 400 at-risk stores were to close, local councils’ business rates receipts from retail would fall by more than £100million a year. Chancellor Rachel Reeves held a meeting with store bosses last week, where she was urged to radically overhaul the business rates system.

John Lewis chairman Jason Tarry warned yesterday that tackling sky-high rates bills was urgent. He said it is his company’s second biggest outlay after wages.