The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has released a mixed response to the Chancellor’s Budget, highlighting the need for further action on business rates.

As part of the changes, business rates have been lowered by 5% for retail, hospitality and leisure properties to help ease the financial pressure.

According to the BRC, the inclusion of larger retail properties in the higher business tax rates will hinder retail investment and job creation.

Helen Dickinson, chief executive at the BRC said:“It was a mixed bag Budget that offered relief for many shops but brought in new costs for others.

”The announced permanent reduction in retail business rates is an important step to reduce the industry’s burden from this broken tax. Yet the decision to include larger retail premises in the new surtax does little to support retail investment and job creation.”

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She said while increases in the National Living Wage were in line with expectations, the rise to the minimum wage for under-21s could limit employment opportunities.

”All in all, we will see winners and losers across retail, and the impact for consumers will unfold in the coming months, but this Budget does not go far enough to mitigate the inflationary pressures already bearing down on the industry.”

Additionally, the BRC warned that the higher national living wage will add on more costs for retailers who are currently dealing with inflationary pressures.

Dickinson added: “With food inflation nearing 5% and 100,000 jobs lost in retail over the last year, further cost rises are challenging for retailers to absorb, given tight retail margins.”