One of the United Kingdom’s largest employers, the retail sector, is facing the loss of up to 900,000 jobs and the closure of thousands of shops in the next decade. A new report by the British Retail Consortium says rising costs due to the National Living Wage and the new apprenticeship levy could speed up job cuts. The study says “economically fragile” parts of the UK will be hit hardest. The National Living Wage and apprenticeship levy “both have sound intentions but both could fail on implementation”, it says. Sir Charlie Mayfield, chairman of the
British Retail Consortium (BRC) and head of the John Lewis Partnership, said that al- though retailers supported the introduction of higher pay, there would be an effect on employment. The retail sector employs three million people - a number that could fall by nearly a third in less than a decade. Sir Charlie said that many shops would also close, as increasing costs and changes in the way millions of consumers shop take hold. Of the 270,000 shops in the UK today, up to 74,000 could shut, the British Retail Consortium report claims.
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