TRADE
OPINION
Trade talk
Calling all suppliers and distributors! We’d love to hear your views. Get in touch with Clare@lemapublishing.co.uk to have your say!
This month we find out industry reactions to the Chancellor’s Spring Budget and, on a lighter note, we invite suppliers to take a trip down memory lane and revisit their favourite toys of yesteryear HELEN DICKINSON Chief executive British Retail Consortium
PHIL RATCLIFFE Joint Managing Director MV Sports & Leisure What pleases you about the Budget in terms of how it affects your business? It seems fairly measured and to be honest, I expected more immediate or medium-term increases on taxation although the hike in corporation tax after 2023 will have a big impact. I also like the new Freeport initiative. What disappoints you about the Budget in terms of how it affects your business? The big damage has already been done with Brexit and the non-level playing field we have agreed. Is there anything you feel was ignored or should have been addressed more thoroughly? Possibly some equalisation in taxation of certain overseas companies to allow fairer competition. Finally (not Budget related!), what is your earliest toy memory? Roleplaying Thunderbirds with my mum and then my best friend, with diecast Thunderbirds vehicles.
We welcome the extension of key business funding schemes. The Chancellor's announcement provides some targeted support to struggling businesses across the country. Action to support the retail industry will be vital to reviving the economy, including business rates relief, restart grants and loans, and an extension to the furlough scheme. The Chancellor must keep the situation under review, as we wait to see how the economy responds to reopening.
JULIA LOESER Science kit sales, marketing & PR manager, Thames & Kosmos What pleased you about the Budget in terms of how it affects your business? I think the entire toy industry breathed a sigh of relief after the Budget announcement. With the extension of the furlough scheme to the end of September and the announcement of business rates relief, small businesses such as bricks-and-mortar shops and the independents will hopefully be able to recover after the difficult past year. The additional funding for a further 45 towns in England through the Towns Fund to support long-term economic and social regeneration is also welcome news. If town centres and high streets are more accessible and a place that people want to visit, it can only be of benefit to retail. Is there anything you felt was ignored or should be addressed more thoroughly? The Budget is a first step in the right direction and a sign of positive things to come - and hopefully sees the start of the economic recovery. The toy industry is resilient: we know from many of our customers that they found the past year hard but managed to keep going in ingenious ways – and they all said their customers have been incredibly loyal and have kept shopping with them. The next few months will show whether the investments planned are going to be enough. Finally (not Budget related!), what is your earliest toy memory? One of my earliest toy memories is the Fisher Price Cassette Player. It was one of my most prized toys and the envy of my school friends - and was only eclipsed in my teens by the Sony Walkman! My favourite board game was The Game of Life; we spent many evenings playing this with my grandparents.
ANDREW GOODACRE CEO, Bira (British Independent Retailers Association)
We broadly welcome the announcements for smaller retailers in the Budget; restart grants, recovery loans, furlough scheme and reduced business rates. A reduction in business rates for 2021/22 is welcome but we strongly believe that the Chancellor has missed an opportunity to go one step further by not giving a full year of relief to non-essential retailers. This has been done in Scotland, and such a decision in England would only have cost approximately £1bn to give genuine reassurance to thousands of retailers looking to rebuild their businesses. Also, we need an extension of the rent moratorium so that businesses can look forward to making the most of the support being made available by the government. These measures are certainly something that indie retailers can work with, but as always, it will be a matter of there being ‘devil in the detail’. 28
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