Overview

• Retail groups say a proposed surtax on properties with a rateable value above £500,000 would raise business rates for about 4,000 large stores, including supermarkets.
• ONS figures show headline inflation at 3.8% with food and non-alcoholic beverages at 5.1%, the highest food rate since the 2022–23 cost-of-living crisis.
• The Bank of England delayed a rate cut last week after highlighting food-driven pressure on overall inflation.
• BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson argues removing shops from the surtax could be achieved at no cost to taxpayers.
• Retailers point to earlier Budget measures—higher employer National Insurance, a bigger national living wage and a packaging tax—as drivers of rising operating costs and price pass-through.