Superdrug CEO Peter Macnab has joined calls for the government to reform business rates after the King’s Speech last week failed to mention the topic.
Speaking to This is Money, the retail boss said the change was essential for the creation of “vibrant” shopping hubs throughout the country.
Commenting on physical stores, Macnab said: “Please. Sort out the rates. It is such an unfair burden on retail.”
He also urged the government to ditch the tax charged on essential products such as toothpaste and sunscreen, which the health and beauty specialist has been campaigning for since the tampon tax was scrapped.
On a local level, he wants councils to address expensive and punitive car parking fees deterring customers from the high street.
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Additionally, he described strict restrictions around hiring and funding apprenticeships as “extremely difficult,” adding that the business was “opening stores and want to be able to hire people for them”.
Moreover, Macnab said Superdrug was prepared to plug the gap left from high numbers of high street pharmacies shutting, with 432 closing last year.
The retailer, which saw profit skyrocket in its latest results, opened 14 new stores last year, including in Manchester’s Trafford Centre and London’s Brent Cross Shopping Centre.
The CEO, who is keen to speak to ministers on ways to expand pharmacists’ roles, said: “Pharmacists are experts at what they do and we want to make better use of them.”
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