The future ownership model of the Post Office is in focus in the media today, including in The Grocer, as the government launches its first comprehensive review of the retail business in 15 years. Thousands of sub-postmasters across Britain could be handed ownership of the Post Office, ending 365 years of government ownership. Ministers are considering changing the retail business’s ownership structure to a mutual model, as they hope to overhaul its culture and avoid future miscarriages of justice in the wake of the Horizon IT scandal (The Times).
The BBC reports that the minister responsible, Gareth Thomas, said it was time for “a fresh vision” for the service, though the government did not plan to reduce the number of branches he sadded. The Post Office operates counters or shops in more than 11,500 locations around the country and is fully state-owned and subsidised by the taxpayer. Plans for mutualisation have been under discussion for more than a decade, but were sidelined as the scandal around the wrongful conviction of sub-postmasters unfolded.
Rachel Reeves has been warned that reforms to private pensions will be a “nail in the coffin” for struggling businesses. The Chancellor is expected to announce a new review of the private pension sector in her Mansion House speech this week, which could result in employers being forced to pay more towards the pensions of auto-enrolled workers (The Telegraph).
Sales of UK retailers rose in June as warmer weather helped drive more shoppers onto the high street, according to new figures. Fresh data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) showed shopping activity received an uplift in the month as sales of fans and sportswear rose sharply due to the recent hot spell and sporting events such as Wimbledon. The monthly BRC-KPMG retail sales monitor revealed that total UK retail sales increased by 3.1% in June year-on-year, compared with a 0.2% rise in the same month a year earlier. This was also particularly buoyed by an increase in food sales, which grew by 4.1% for the month on the back of accelerating price inflation (The Standard).
The number of people hunting for jobs in Britain surged in June at the fastest rate since the height of the Covid pandemic, industry figures show, amid growing business fears over tax rises and the economic outlook. The snapshot from the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and the accountancy firm KPMG showed the number of new candidates looking for work rose at the sharpest rate since November 2020, when the UK entered the second nationwide lockdown. The trade body representing Britain’s recruitment industry blamed the “scar tissue” left by tax rises introduced in April by the government, including a £25bn increase in employer national insurance contributions (The Guardian).
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