Rishi Sunak’s rise to power has been swift. He became an MP in 2015 and made a name for himself in 2020, when his policies helped steer the UK economy through the pandemic.
As the former chancellor, there is hope that his premiership will stabilise the economy. But what could it do for the retail industry in particular?
Saving the high street
In August, Sunak launched his plan to “save the high street”, pledging to reduce empty stores and preserve cash machines, amongst other things. For the new prime minister, reviving the high streets was “crucial” to rebuilding the country’s economy.
We can expect a major part of his focus to be transforming empty shops into spaces that are used for “supporting skills, local businesses, economies and creating jobs”. He also plans on introducing policies to prevent the closing down of free cash machines.
Reviving the high street could slow down the decline in footfall that’s seen many businesses close their doors in recent years, attracting potential customers back to struggling retail stores.
E-commerce statistics are still set to grow exponentially, however, with experts predicting sales to skyrocket from £4.4 to £7 trillion by 2026.
Reducing business rates
Sunak has generally voted for reducing business rates, which could mean businesses will keep more of their profits with Sunak in power.
Speaking in August, before losing the race to Liz Truss, he said “In the autumn we will need to set in place the business rates for the next few years and the top of my mind is always going to be supporting our high streets and town centres.
“Because they are the beating hearts of all our communities, all our market towns, all our villages, everything. They need our support.
“It’s the Conservative thing to do to make sure our communities are strong. The best way to help them is through business rates. That’s what I did as Chancellor and that’s what I’ll do as Prime Minister.”
It’s early days, however, with Sunak’s win, we’ve already seen the pound rally by 0.4% to $1.13 on Monday as markets looked to him to rectify the impacts of Liz Truss’ mini-budget.
The value is higher than it’s been over the last 10 days and the stock market has also welcomed the news, with investors seeing Sunak as a more cautious leader than his predecessor.
With the markets showing signs of settling we may well see an increase in consumer confidence, which means fashion brands and other retailers should invest in digital marketing now more than ever to ensure they can stand out from their competition.