The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has urged the government to provide clarity around the implementation of upcoming policy impacting the sector as it grapples with £7bn in new costs following the Autumn Budget.

During her Spring Statement today (26 March), Chancellor Rachel Reeves committed to implementing policies to grow the economy and create jobs.

Responding to this, BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said that changes – including increased employer National Insurance Contributions, higher National Living Wage, and new packaging charges – will instead cause “higher prices, fewer shops and less investment in jobs”.

Reeves said the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) predicts the economy will grow by 1% in 2025, down from its October prediction of 2%, adding that she was “not satisfied with these numbers.”

Dickinson said the BRC welcomes the Chancellor’s commitment to “drive growth in the economy” and describes the retail industry as keen to play its part in this mission.

“As the Chancellor aims to drive down the number of those who are ‘economically inactive’, there is a need for better routes back into work for those that want or need it after a period of inactivity. The retail industry provides a perfect solution.

“It offers local, flexible jobs, often requiring few qualifications, and part-time jobs that allow people to find their feet, work as much or as little as they are able, and balance work with other important life commitments.”

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However, Dickinson added that the £7bn in additional costs from the Budget is driving concern. “Uncertainty about how the Employment Rights Bill and new business rates policy will be implemented mean it will be much harder for retailers to keep creating these kinds of jobs,” she said.

“The government should avoid unintended consequences and provide clarity about the implementation of these policies as soon as possible. A serious plan for retail growth would support the industry to invest in new jobs and keep prices down for customers,” she said.

Responding to the Spring Statement in the House of Commons today, Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride hit back at Reeves, claiming she has “Taxed jobs and wealth creation, she’s destroyed livelihoods, businesses clobbered, big and small companies, the backbone of our economy, enterprise crushed on the altar of her ineptitude.”

He pointed to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD)’s recent survey which found that just over a third of 2,000 companies polled said they planned to reduce their headcount through redundancies or reduced recruitment.

“Morrisons losing 200 jobs, Tesco 400, Sainsbury’s 3,000 jobs lost, no wonder The Federation of Small Businesses say that outside of the pandemic, business confidence has been left at its lowest level on record,” added Stride.

The supermarkets named by Stride are just a few that have unveiled plans to cut jobs in recent months, during a time that Sainsbury’s CEO Simon Roberts has described as a “particularly challenging cost environment”.

The cutbacks follow a string of tough years for the retail sector. A quarter of a million retail jobs have been lost in the last five years, with 2024 employment figures reaching their lowest level since data collection began in 1996, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Dickinson had previously warned that “worse could be yet to come” as additional cost strains are poised to hit the sector.