Retailers warn government on costs

3rd Mar 2011 13:26

Retailers have warned the government not to increase taxation and other costs on the sector.The warning came at a meeting with chief secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander organised by the British Retail Council (BRC), which included Sainsbury's chief executive Justin King and John Lewis Partnership's Charlie Mayfield.Sector bosses told Alexander that the government had already imposed £670m of costs. They called for no more burdens and said the government support the creation of jobs to spur economic recovery."There was a frank exchange of views," the Daily Telegraph quoted one of the participants as saying.A report by the Swiss bank UBS said recently that food retailers have been pushing up prices at a faster rate than food inflation.UK food prices are increasing at an annual rate of 4.9%, compared with 3.6% in Germany and 1.4% in France, while prices in the eurozone are inflating by 1.8%, the report shows.But the retail sector hit back, with the BRC saying that UBS had not taken account of cost savings through promotions.