How the Budget impacts retail and next steps
Join us for a more detailed look at the 2026 Budget from 11-12pm on Tuesday 3rd November.
As the dust begins to settle, we will be joined by Lead Economist Harvir Dhillon to take a more thorough look at the Budget, how the OBR forecasts have been adjusted, costs associated with key policies and the role the BRC played pre Budget and what our next steps are.
We will also look in more detail on where the Government landed on the key BRC asks:
- Boost youth employment opportunities by increasing the secondary NICs threshold from £5,000 to £6,000
- Reduce retailers' energy bills by addressing non commodity costs
- No shop to pay more in business rates by freezing the CPI uplift to the multiplier, removing shops from the high value multiplier and avoiding introducing a new warehouse surtax
- No new additional taxes on the industry
Email Guy to join
Meeting Facilitator
Jim Bligh
Corporate Affairs Director | BRC
Jim leads the BRC's corporate affairs, including communications and public affairs, around the UK. Jim and the team ensure the BRC is well-represented and positioned in Westminster, Whitehall, the devolved administrations, regional and local government, and in the media and social media.
Before joining the BRC, Jim was director of corporate affairs and packaging policy at the Food and Drink Federation. He has led corporate affairs for some leading global brands in the UK, including PepsiCo, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), and ManpowerGroup. Jim started his career at the CBI, where he was head of policy for employment, skills, pensions, exports, and public service reform. Jim is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, a former visiting fellow at the University of Oxford, and holds degrees from Cambridge and Durham universities.
Harvir Dhillon
Lead Economist & Market Intelligence Manager
Harvir is Lead Economist & Market Intelligence Manager at the BRC, focussing on the big trends within the retail sector and the macroeconomy more broadly. Primarily leading on our Shop Price Index and Economic monitors, he also leads the BRC’s HR Benchmark and Payments surveys. He closely monitors economic activity, the retail labour market and the cost of living in the UK.
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