Indie-spensable

In less than 24 hours Value Added Tax (VAT) will be increased to 20% in the UK - now, more than ever, is the time to support the Indies!

Large retailers have already pushed back to their suppliers (brands and factories of all sizes) and nigh on demanded that the suppliers take a hit on their profit margins so that the multiple, national and international retailers can maintain current retail prices and continue their battles with one another for market share, but how will this tax hike effect the Indie Retailers & Brands? And why should we support them?

First up lets take the case of the Indie Retailers:

Independent stores remain the very foundation of our retail industry, indeed without them we'd have no retail heritage.

They offer Added Value through:

• High Standards in Service
• Location
• Boosting the Local Economy
• Being Personable
• After Sales Service
• Promoting Independent Brands

Yet it's these small pillars of the community that stand to lose the most from this Tax rise.

VAT is collected for the Government, end consumers understand this, yet large retailers are using it as a tool to increase size and further damage the Independent Retailer; by forcing brands to offer deals which enable the larger stores and chains to maintain current RRPs (Recommended Retail Prices) they're effectively reducing prices - Indie stores don't have the same clout with their suppliers and so they will have to increase their RRPs to accommodate the extra monies the Government requires them to collect on their behalf.

It's not just Retailers though, Independent Brands are also suffering...

Independent Brands rely on Independent Retailers to get a starting foothold in the market - larger retailers can afford to wait on a brand to prove successful before sparing them any budget or space in their stores. Meaning new brands are best focusing their efforts on gaining entry into *Key Indie Retailers to prove their worth, often trading at a loss until they're able to grow in size.

*Key Indies - the small network of influential independent stores that even the nationals, multiples and chains look to for fresh brands.

Due to the nature of their development Indie Brands will simply be unable to cut the stores deals to allow their RRPs to remain the same, hence their prices will increase and in doing so could swing the decisions made by the end consumer in favour of the larger, lower-priced brand alternatives.

So here at The Gospel we're calling for you to put your pennies where the Indies are!