Mulberry boss latest voice to call for tax free shopping
The chief executive of luxury fashion brand Mulberry has said that the Government’s decision to end tax-free shopping in January last year is having a negative effect on trading in its stores in London.
Thierry Andretta has called for a reinstatement of the policy as a means to attract wealthy tourists to shop in London, who have shunned the capital in favour of Paris and Milan.
This comes as the retailer revealed that it had slipped into a £3.8m loss. This is a stark contrast to last year’s figures, when the group posted a £10.2m profit.
“The wealthy are still buying but they’re not choosing to buy in London”, said Andretta.
He added: “[VAT-free shopping] is something we would like the Government to reinstate.”
A decision to reinstate tax-free shopping was made by previous Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng in his now infamous mini-budget, however this was reversed by Jeremy Hunt in his Autumn Statement.
Mulberry’s boss becomes the latest in a long list of retailers calling for the reintroduction of the policy, with the Association for International Retail (AIR) asking the Chancellor to do so earlier in the month.
AIR said tax-free shopping would be worth £3.1bn of foreign visitor spending by FY2026.