Calls for action as soaring costs put retail jobs at risk

ONE in 10 retail jobs is at risk of disappearing by 2028 because of cost pressures, a report has warned.

- By Amber Murray

The number of roles has dropped by over 350,000 since 2015 a fall nearly 10 times bigger than the total number of jobs in the steel industry, the British Retail Consortium found.

Yet while ministers made “repeated interventions [in steel] to prevent factory closures and save British jobs”, retail has been hobbled by mounting costs and red tape, the BRC said.

Rises in employer National Insurance Contributions are costing the industry £2.4bn and a further £2.7bn has been added from increases to the National Living Wage in April.