Retail Sector Council can 'give industry a voice' on Brexit challenges, says lawyer

The Retail Sector Council is a new body that has been set up to "act as champion for future growth", the UK government announced on Wednesday.

Members of the Council include the UK's retail minister, Andrew Griffiths, as well as a number of senior figures from the retail industry, including Doug Gurr, UK country manager for Amazon, Sir Charlie Mayfield, chairman of John Lewis Partnership, and Elizabeth Fagan, senior vice president and managing director of Boots in the UK and Republic of Ireland. The British Retail Consortium is also represented on the 12-strong Council.

The government said that the new Council would "meet regularly with industry to discuss the challenges the sector faces".

The Council will also "review how best retailers could adapt to changing consumer behaviour, the business environment and opportunities such as the development of new technologies to improve customer service, the chances to grow skills through a sector push on high-value training and ways to boost sector productivity and its economic health", it said.

Tom Leman of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said that the Retail Sector Council could provide a forum for UK retailers to address issues that arise from Brexit.

Leman said: "The retail industry in the UK is ubiquitous and, as a result, often taken for granted. The sector is a central part of the UK's overall economy and a major employer. It has a number of major strengths, from brands that are popular the world over, to leading processes for e-commerce services and delivery. However, the sector faces a number of challenges too."

"As Brexit approaches, retailers are particularly concerned to know how any tightening of immigration rules might impact on their ability to recruit staff. They are also anxious that new customs arrangements between the UK and EU do not hold up the supply and delivery of goods, and there are further potential tax considerations around the payment of VAT that could materialise from the UK's new trading relationship with the EU," he said.

"Beyond that there are further challenges for high street retailers around rising business rates, which they argue put them at a competitive disadvantage when compared with online rivals that do not occupy physical premises. Compliance with new EU data protection laws, and keeping up with the developing agenda on equal pay are further issues that the industry is grappling with," Leman said.

"The Retail Sector Council can help retailers to voice those concerns directly to government at a time when there are competing demands for its attention. Many lobbyists already argue for industries such as financial services and manufacturing to be at the front and centre of the government's negotiating and planning around Brexit – the creation of the new Retail Sector Council gives UK retailers the platform to ensure their voices are also heard," he said.