The Northern Ireland Retail Consortium has called for a “fundamental reform of business taxes” in the province, in order to ensure that retail can be “a keystone in the economic recovery”.
The NIRC’s comments follow the publication of the latest Springboard Retail Footfall and Vacancies report, which found that in September, footfall numbers in Northern Ireland were 0.7% lower than a year ago.
This is below the UK average of -0.2%.
Commenting on the findings, Aodhán Connolly, Director of the Northern Ireland Retail Consortium, said, “Although this is our best footfall result since May 2015, it is still a fall of 0.7 per cent and the 12 month average is still -1.2 per cent. This shows very clearly the volatile nature of the retail market in Northern Ireland.
“Retail has made a clear commitment to Northern Ireland but for us to continue to invest, grow employment, and bring great value to consumers here, we need government to support us. That is why we launched our policy agenda making clear what our politicians could do to make our vision for retail a reality.”
© 2015 - Checkout Magazine by Stephen Wynne-Jones
