The Scottish Retail Consortium has blamed a decline in the number of retail jobs and stores in Scotland on a “toxic cocktail of burgeoning tax and regulatory costs and transformational change in the retail industry”.

The Scottish Government’s Scottish Annual Business Statistics, published today, reveals that there were 6,400 fewer retail jobs and 185 fewer retail stores in Scotland over the year.

The report finds that employment in the Scottish retail industry has shrunk by 16,400 over the past eight years, down 6.3 per cent over the period. The number of retail stores is down 1,831 over the past eight years, down 7.5 per cent.

David Lonsdale, director of the Scottish Retail Consortium, said: “These latest figures graphically highlight the impact of the toxic cocktail of burgeoning tax and regulatory costs and transformational change in the retail industry. Sadly our warnings about the impact of rising government-imposed costs on an industry in profound transition are being borne out, with fewer jobs and fewer retail stores. In particular the loss of over 6,000 jobs over the past year must act as a wake-up call to policy makers.

“Earlier this week we laid out a number of actions the Scottish Government should bring forward in its upcoming Budget to encourage investment by retailers in stores and distribution centres, in particular restoring parity with England on the Large Business Rates Supplement. As the Barclay Report reinforced, this self-defeating Scotland-only rates surcharge – which affects 5,100 stores and costs retailers £12 million each year - needs to end and we are keen to see a clear and early timetable for achieving this. We also want to see a moratorium on any new or additional business rates levies, together with clarity over how employers who currently pay the Apprenticeship Levy in Scotland will be able to access the proposed Flexible Workforce Development Fund to offset their training expenditure.

“If we fluff this opportunity to bear down on the costs of doing business then we risk failing to stem let alone reverse the decline in retail jobs and shops, especially in our more economically fragile communities.”