Furniture boss rails against rates rise as CBI reveals further falls for home retailers

25th February | sales | Argos chief Terry Duddy is among a host of Britain’s largest retailers calling for the Government to reverse its plans to raise business rates. The Home Retail chief executive is joined by contemporaries at Debenhams and Arcadia Group in seeking a review of measures including the Business Rate Supplements Bill, the ratings review of commercial properties, and the increased rates applied to empty stores.

The demands come a day after the CBI reported more problems on the high street, with more than half of all retailers recording a fall in sales in the year to February 2009. Retailers of furniture, flooring and other durable household goods were among those hardest hit, according the CBI’s Distributive Trades Survey.

A leading service supplier to furniture retailers across the full quality spectrum told the Furnishing Report the middle to lower end of the furniture retail sector was performing at up to 30% down year on year. However, he added that middle to upper end retailers are doing better, with sales on average somewhere between 0-15% down over the past year.

Sign up for free email newsletters from the Furnishing Report. Featuring sharp analysis, the latest insolvency information and market data and reports not published elsewhere on the website. Free every Thursday. Sign up here

Newsletter subscribers are also automatically entered into our free prize draw for two return flights including accommodation to Las Vegas for the Autumn Market, courtesy of World Market Center.