Originally written by Anna Jordan on Small Business
Retailers in the West End of London want to extend tax-free shopping to EU shoppers after Brexit.
This will help them to get through the slump in sales following a slow recovery from the coronavirus lockdown. Footfall on London’s main shopping streets is down on pre-COVID 19 levels. It rose 12.7 per cent in the week to August 22nd, but this is still down 62 per cent on this time last year. Meanwhile, footfall is down 50 per cent in other regional cities and 30 per cent in outer London, according to Springboard.
A good chunk of this shortfall has been attributed to a lack of international tourists. New West End Company says that it relies on these visitors for over half of its £10bn annual revenue.
The organisation’s chairman, Peter Rogers, is calling for tax-free shopping to be extended to EU visitors once the Brexit transition period ends in December. His letter has signatures from over 70 executives including retail groups like Harrods and H&M.
>See also: How to cope with the slow return to trade post-lockdown
Why would extending tax-free shopping help businesses?
Statistics from NWEC, international tourists spend over £6bn, over half of which is tax-free.