High Street Retailers

Lord Fox Excerpts

Wednesday 25th April 2018 Lords Chamber

[Lord Henley]

I agree that empty shops make the situation worse. It is up to local authorities to look at what can be done, but we are in a changing environment. Some 10 years ago, 4.5% of retail was online; it is now 17%. That is what the consumer wants and, in the end, the consumer has to be king in a sector such as retail. It is up to the sector itself—that is why the Government want to talk to the sector—to look at the changing nature of what is happening and adapt to that change.

[Lord Fox (LD)]

My Lords, it is not just about empty shops in the high street; it is about people. We are seeing a migration of good retail jobs, some of which had pensions and many of which had long-term prospects. It is an erosion of people’s lives. The replacement jobs are warehouse jobs on zero-hour contracts. The Minister mentioned that his right honourable friend the Chancellor is conducting a review of the situation. Given that shops are going out of business every day, when might we hear the result of this review?

[Lord Henley]

I will leave that to my right honourable friend and he will respond as is appropriate. The point I want to stress—as I did in my original Answer and in the one I just gave—is that this is a changing environment. The noble Lord no doubt buys things online. There is an increase in people buying things online; that is quite simply what is happening. I cited the figures: 4.5% of retail was online 10 years ago and the figure is now 17%. That trend will continue. The retail sector must look at ways of adapting. Having said that, the noble Lord should not think that all online trade is necessarily going to Amazon and other warehouses; a lot of online business is conducted by the shops themselves. It is a varied picture, but it is up to the sector itself to adapt to those changes.