24-25.qxp_Layout 1 21/11/2018 11:48 Page 2
CARDSHARP
Hold Onto
Your Hats! Brexit, Brexit, Brexit! Cardsharp knows we are all sick of it, but it casts a long shadow over our economy and our retail economy in particular. And we are no nearer a resolution! Moreover, as far as Cardsharp can make out, whatever the result, even the unlikely one of PM Theresa May getting her withdrawal plan through Parliament, the ‘Deal Dividend’ could prove illusory as this would be just a ‘Withdrawal Agreement’. From what Cardsharp can make out, our long-term trading arrangement with the rest of the EU will be subject to years of discussion, before we get guarantees of frictionless trade. As Cardsharp braces himself for many more twists and turns on the long road to Brexit, he considers what else is peppering the landscape as this year draws to a close. Away from Brexit, but related to a certain extent, Britain’s high streets are having a difficult time. Although the British people show no signs of ending their love affair with greeting cards, the fact of the matter is they are going less frequently to the high street locations that sell them. With costs of retail being what they are, these shops in these locations need more than just greeting cards to be viable. As Cardsharp sees it, there are two sides to this, which sometimes are logged together but really should be considered separately. First is the structural problem of physical retail is long-term and there are no long-term solutions that Cardsharp can see. The other, the economic problem. Cardsharp can at least see some light at
24
PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
Above: Amazon enjoys an unfair retailing advantage. Below: PM Theresa May has laid the Brexit plan on the table.
the end of the tunnel, although not before some more pain short-term. The structural problem, the challenge to bricks and mortar by online retailing, has been dealt with by Cardsharp and many others ad nauseum. Until the government deals with the problem of punitive business rates, and prohibitively expensive parking, as well as the clearly unfair competitive advantage enjoyed by Amazon and the like, the problem will not go away. The Chancellor payed lip service to this in his recent Budget, with his pathetically inadequate big tech tax and by returning a few crumbs over business rates, but it did not really get to the hub of the matter. Until there is more of an equal playing field, traditional retailing will continue to suffer. There have been some reports, that Cardsharp has read, predicting that 40% of all UK retail sales will have moved online by