{"id":167184,"date":"2020-08-20T16:32:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-20T16:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theindustry.fashion\/thousands-of-jobs-will-vanish-without-rates-reform-says-frasers-group-finance-chief\/"},"modified":"2021-08-06T12:06:55","modified_gmt":"2021-08-06T12:06:55","slug":"thousands-of-jobs-will-vanish-without-rates-reform-says-frasers-group-finance-chief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theindustry.fashion\/thousands-of-jobs-will-vanish-without-rates-reform-says-frasers-group-finance-chief\/","title":{"rendered":"Thousands of jobs will vanish without rates reform, says Frasers Group finance chief"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The finance chief of Frasers Group has warned that \u201ctens of thousands of jobs will vanish\u201d from the high street <strong>if the Government fails to change the current business rates system.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Chris Wootton, chief finance officer of Mike Ashley\u2019s retail group, <strong>called on the Government to revalue the property tax<\/strong> to aid the UK high street.<\/p>\n<p>After the coronavirus pandemic hit the UK, the <strong>Chancellor halted business rates for retailers until the new financial year<\/strong> starts in April 2021.<\/p>\n<p>Wootton told the PA news agency that the payment holiday was \u201cvery important\u201d for the sector but will be <strong>\u201cworth little\u201d if business rates are not revalued<\/strong> ahead of the new financial year.<\/p>\n<p>The Government said its next business rates revaluation will take place in 2023, with<strong> rates next year set to be based on figures from the latest valuation in 2015.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>However, this has faced scorn from retailers who say that<strong> retail property prices have slumped significantly since then<\/strong> amid pressure on the high street.<\/p>\n<p>Wootton said: \u201cIf they continue to use 2015 figures, it will push lots of retailers over the edge.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf they don\u2019t change the system dramatically, the <strong>Government will receive hardly any rates anyway as so many retailers will have gone bust<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Despite hailing the business rates holiday and furlough programme, the finance boss remained critical of some of the Government\u2019s actions during the pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>At the start of the pandemic, Frasers Group <strong>called on the Government to allow its Sports Direct stores to reopen<\/strong>, claiming they should have been deemed an essential retailer.<\/p>\n<p>In March, Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister, told BBC Radio 4\u2019s <em>Today<\/em> programme that Sports Direct made the \u201cwrong call\u201d and affirmed that its stores would remain shut.<\/p>\n<p>Wootton told PA: \u201cWe have been pleased with some Government actions\u2026 but<strong> we are not sure why they needed to publicly use us as a political football.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe asked if we should keep stores open to sell fitness products \u2013 <strong>we would have wanted a better dialogue.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI do think some of their actions have been bizarre. They spoke clearly about the importance of people staying fit and healthy but they <strong>kept sporting goods retailers shut but allowed off-licences to reopen<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theindustry.fashion\/subscribe-now\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-146496 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theindustry.fashion\/wp-content\/uploads\/Banner.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"260\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":139840,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16042,10585,6,10494],"tags":[14598,14136,15588,8780,11421,10836],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.7 - 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