Nul points! Hated tourist tax will hit visitors flocking to Britain for Eurovision

Mail Emily Hawkins & Harriet Line 04.27.23 Tourists flocking to Liverpool for the Eurovision Song Contest will not spend as much on shopping as they would have done with a tax incentive, retailers warn. Bosses say the controversial ‘tourist tax’ is hitting cities around the country – not just London. The Mail this week launched its Scrap The Tourist Tax … Read More

Coronation weekend to generate up to £50m for West End

Drapers Sabina Weston 04.27.23 In order to promote the event, the New West End Company has decorated the West End with 247 Union Jack flags, coronation planters, and a series of street installations with the slogan ‘get your royal on’. Coronation-inspired retail and hospitality experiences are also accessible through QR codes displayed across the area. New West End Company chief … Read More

MPs from all parties call for tourist tax to be axed as Liz Truss and Sadiq Khan claim the fee puts Britain at a ‘competitive disadvantage’ with rest of Europe

Mail Harriet Line 04.24.23 A cross-party group of politicians joined forces tonight to back the Mail’s campaign to bring back tax-free shopping for tourists. Former prime minister Liz Truss led a growing clamour of calls from MPs demanding ministers restore the VAT refund for visitors to boost economic growth. She was joined by Labour’s London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, … Read More

Sunak accused of making UK the least attractive place to shop in Europe

iNews David Connett 04.25.23 The Prime Minister’s bid to woo UK business misfired when a leading executive accused him of a “spectacular own goal” by imposing VAT changes on tourists after Brexit. Gerry Murphy, boss of fashion house Burberry, told the Prime Minister that his move to scrap the VAT refund for tourists has made Britain the “least attractive” shopping destination in Europe. He was … Read More

Harrods rages as Paris poaches London’s shopaholic elites

The Telegraph Matt Oliver; Hannah Boland and Daniel Woolfson 04.27.23 The year is 2017 and the tills are ringing in Bond Street’s jewellers, fashion retailers and watch shops like never before. A record number of brands are rushing to open stores across central London to serve throngs of tourists, prompting researchers to crown the city as the “world capital” of luxury shopping. To … Read More

Time to scrap the ‘Tourist Tax’ and get Britain booming again: Business leaders call on Chancellor to reinstate tax-free shopping for overseas visitors 

Mail Harriet Line & Hugo Duncan A coalition of business leaders today calls for the return of tax-free shopping for overseas tourists. In a letter to the Chancellor, scores of retail, hospitality and tourism bosses warn that removing the VAT refund for visitors has been an ‘extraordinary own goal’. Reinstating it would be a win both for business and the taxpayer, they … Read More

Brexit is a drag on growth, says Burberry chair, as he attacks ‘own goal’ on VAT

The Guardian Alex Lawson 04.24.23 The chair of Burberry has called Brexit a “drag on growth” and asked Rishi Sunak to reverse a decision to remove tax-free shopping for tourists that has left Britain nursing the “weakest” Covid recovery among its big markets. Gerry Murphy, the chair of the £10bn trench coats to handbags fashion house, told the prime minister that a decision to … Read More

Luxury leather brand Ettinger says tourist tax discourages foreign visitors from splurging cash in Britain

Mail Emily Hawkins 04.24.23 Many tourists visiting the UK for the Coronation will be deterred from splashing out due to a lack of VAT-free shopping, the boss of luxury brand Ettinger has warned. Ettinger has been producing leather products such as wallets, briefcases and passport holders since Gerry Ettinger founded the business in 1934. Now his son Robert is worried that visitors … Read More