In a short submission to Holyrood’s Finance & Public Administration Committee, which is undertaking its pre-Budget scrutiny, the SRC highlights the tumult that has afflicted swathes of Scotland’s retail industry as a result of the Covid pandemic.

Seventeen months on from the onset of the crisis and retail sales have yet to claw their way back to pre-pandemic levels, shop vacancies have spiked to a six year high, and shopper footfall continues to fall well short.

The submission from the SRC comes ahead of the expected publication later this year of the devolved administration’s spending and taxation plans for 2022-23.

The submission from the leading industry representative body calls for:

• Action to entice shoppers back to city centres ahead of the ‘crucial golden quarter’ of pre-Christmas spending - through free parking, an advertising campaign, or high street voucher scheme
• A modest discount to business rates in 2022-23 and a route map to a permanently lower poundage
• Early progress on the SNP’s manifesto pledge to level the playing field with England on business rates for larger premises
• A pause on the introduction of new regulation and workplace parking levies
• Rejection of a legislative prohibition on stores opening to customers on New Year’s Day
• Funding to implement recommendations that emerge from the Scottish Retail Strategy and City Centres Recovery Taskforce

The retail industry is Scotland’s largest private sector employer, providing almost a quarter of a million jobs, and the SRC’s members include well known high street, out-of-town, online and grocery retailers.

David Lonsdale, director of the Scottish Retail Consortium, said: “The past seventeen months of the Covid pandemic has been the most challenging and tumultuous period for Scotland’s retail industry in recent decades, with sharp consequences for large swathes of the industry.

“The backing that has been on offer from government during the crisis has been substantial, however, continued support for the industry will be crucial as it seeks to recover and navigate the continued uncertainty, looming headwinds, and changing shopping habits.”