Retail titan Mike Ashley has launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s High Street revival policies, labelling them ‘populist reactions’ and ‘delusional’. The founder of Sports Direct accused Burnham of ‘jumping on ‘everyday fixes’ or bandwagons’ while businesses face ‘disastrous’ government policies.
In a letter to the Prime Minister, Ashley criticised the proposed plan to increase business rates on large warehouses to subsidise pubs and clubs. He called this particular idea ‘simply delusional’. This comes as firms grapple with existing business rates and higher employment costs, according to the billionaire businessman.
Downing Street hit back, with a spokesperson confirming Burnham’s commitment to ‘build a new economy that backs British business’. They promised growth ‘in every postcode’ and ‘affordable again’ essentials. Cutting VAT from household electricity bills and reducing business rates for some firms are ‘just the start’, they added.
Burnham, who succeeded Sir Keir Starmer as prime minister, recently pledged to revitalise Britain’s ‘hollowed out’ High Streets. His plans include helping councils block new vaping and betting shops. He also aims to end subscription traps and ban shops from using misleading recommended retail prices.
Ashley’s letter, first reported by the Financial Times and also seen by the BBC, demands the Prime Minister rethink his approach. The businessman urged Burnham to use his first Budget, scheduled for 28 October, to lower employer costs and fundamentally change the government’s stance on business rates.
Pubs, social clubs, and live music venues are set to receive a 20% business rates cut from April. A review has also been launched into how this tax, long criticised by High Street firms, is calculated. Ashley maintains that ‘Shortsighted or populist reactions to underlying business challenges are not the answer’.
The Frasers Group founder has consistently called for a complete overhaul of the tax system. He advocates for levelling the playing field between traditional High Street retailers and their online rivals. Burnham previously suggested funding cuts for pubs and clubs through higher levies on online firm warehouses, like Amazon, and targeting owners of empty High Street properties.
Ashley built Frasers Group from a single Sports Direct shop in Maidenhead in 1982 into an empire employing 30,000 people. His business, now run by son-in-law Michael Murray, this month acquired luxury department store Harvey Nichols, promising ‘significant restructuring’.
