Politicians have long talked about reducing retail regulation, but the Government’s Red Tape Challenge is the first sign of action.

While most of the responses so far are from individuals working in stores rather than businesses, some of the issues covered are vital to retailers, such as the furore among the jewellery fraternity over the inclusion of hallmarking has shown.

But the area of regulation that has had most comments has been Sunday trading. By Tuesday morning, 2,302 people had commented on the subject on the Red Tape Challenge site, most in favour of retaining the status quo.

That’s not surprising. Retail workers will be worried about being asked to work longer hours, but the absurd sight of garden centres opening on Easter Sunday just to serve food, while other retailers openly flouted the rules, shows that the current situation isn’t sustainable. While the Red Tape Challenge is unlikely to bring about any change, something much more powerful ultimately has to.

Store staff need to understand that the biggest threat to their jobs is the internet. The web has no opening hours - it puts the customer in charge. Bricks-and-mortar retailers need to be given the same freedom, because in the future if customers find stores closed when they want to shop, they won’t come back later. They’ll just buy it on their mobile.

‘Store staff need to understand that the biggest threat to their jobs is the internet.’

Getting the stats right

Retailers could have done with being able to trade on Easter Sunday, as it appears to have been a good weekend for retail. Overall, April’s sunny weather seems to be have been good for the sector. Which probably means that the Office for National Statistics will record a fall in sales. There was bemusement last week when the ONS reported sales rose in March, which wasn’t just at odds with the BRC’s data, but also with what retailers were saying too.

The fact that the ONS data is seasonally adjusted - therefore excluding the impact of Easter - and includes more small retailers - which have benefited from the high price of petrol - might go some way to explaining the difference, but not the whole way.

Most telling is that already this year the ONS has had to revise its January and February figures downwards. But if it revises down March, that won’t make the headlines in the way last Thursday’s figures did. Policymakers need an accurate reflection of the health of retail to make decisions on the economy. At the moment, they’re not getting them.

 

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