The British Retail Consortium has laid out a series of demands for Andy Burnham as he prepares to enter government as Prime Minister.
The BRC, which represents the UK’s biggest retailers, has urged Burnham to “buy into retail” as part of his pledge to support local communities and high streets.
Retailers have piled criticism onto the government in recent months over rising business rates, minimum wages, and national insurance contributions, warning these hikes threaten the British high street.
The BRC is already in talks with Burnham’s team over its demands, which include reversing wage and NIC increases and delivering substantial cuts to business rates.
Helen Dickinson, the BRC’s chief executive, said that “Andy Burnham has made collaborating with business to drive growth, high streets, and living standards central to his ambition.”
Dickinson added: “Retail is a key partner to deliver it: with the right policies, retail can drive investment, support jobs in every postcode, and keep household essentials affordable.”
During a major policy speech in Manchester last month, Burnham pledged a high street “renaissance” and spoke of the importance of local businesses and communities across the country.
Retailers have absorbed £6.5bn in extra employment costs since 2024, the BRC said, on top of climbing business rates and newly introduced packaging taxes that are squeezing margins further.
The consortium’s central demand centres on the youth unemployment crisis, which retailers say has been directly worsened by recent increases in employment costs that must now be reversed.
The BRC is also calling on Burnham to launch a dedicated task force in collaboration with retailers, aimed at expanding routes for young people into employment.
Earlier this year, a review by former health secretary Alan Milburn found that the welfare state and social media are to blame for the nearly one million young people not in education, work, or training.
On business rates specifically, the BRC warned that “when rates are high, retailers hire and invest less, growth and innovation slows, and shoppers pay higher prices.”
Retailers currently pay 75 per cent of their profits in tax, and their business rates bills have climbed by £1.8bn in the last two years alone, according to the trade body.
Burnham, the Makerfield MP, has already committed to expanding business rates relief to more small companies, in exchange for hiking taxes on out-of-town warehouses.
The Prime Minister-to-be is also facing calls from other trade bodies to cut business rates bills for bricks and mortar companies by 37 per cent, in exchange for a two per cent levy on online sales.