By Laura McGuire
The West End and Knightsbridge have urged the chancellor to relax Sunday trading restrictions and help them rake in an estimated £350m a year.
The duo have submitted a joint proposal to Jeremy Hunt ahead of this week’s budget, urging the government to relax Sunday trading laws within the popular London districts in an effort to boost trading.
New West End Company (NWEC) and Knightsbridge Partnership, the bodies which represent each district, have said that removing the law which only allows shops to trade between 10am and 6pm on a Sunday could result inan estimated £350m of net additional sales annually.
The pair said that both districts are “major attractions” for international shoppers, with the majority of foreign consumers hitting the West End and Knightsbridge when on their holidays and helping to bring £28.4bn in the UK economy.
As London’s retail sector recovers from the pandemic and faces a new set of challenges onset by the cost of living crisis, businesses in the shopping districts have still remained to see a rise in international visitors in recent months.
However, NWEC and Knightsbridge Partnership warned that this rise has been “far steeper” in cities across continental Europe, which have more relaxed weekend trading laws.
“For international visitors who are only here for the weekend, this is particularly disappointing. International tourists are used to visiting shopping destinations that stay open for longer, with Galeries Lafayette in Paris closing at 8pm on Sunday, while the Mall of Emirates is open to shoppers until midnight,” Dee Corsi, chief executive of New West End Company, said.
Steven Medway, head of Knightsbridge Partnership, added: “Authorities in competitor markets like Paris and Milan have moved with the times in accommodating changing consumer habits and are experiencing faster growth relative to 2019 levels.
“We need a levelling of the playing field with those markets and revised Sunday Trading rules would do just that. As a market worth £24.4 bn, it deserves the government’s focus and support.”
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