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\u201cA spectacular own goal\u201d that had turned Great Britain into \u201cthe least attractive shopping destination in Europe<\/b>,\u201d explained Gerry Murphy.<\/b><\/p>\n
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In the land of soccer, has Gerry Murphy, president of Burberry, <\/b>found the winning formula to convince his Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, <\/b>to restore the duty-free system that is so popular with tourists<\/b>?<\/p>\n
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The head of the venerable company took advantage of the Business Connect conference, which took place yesterday in London in the presence of 200 business leaders, to address Rishi Sunak. He too asked him to reverse this \u201csomewhat perverse\u201d decision \u201cto remove VAT refunds for tourists\u201d \u201cby, I believe it was you as Chancellor,\u201d \u201con the day we left the single market.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Adding that \u201cleaving the EU\u201d had had \u201ca significant friction effect on trade,<\/i><\/b> which hopefully will not be eternal\u201d<\/i>, Gerry Murphy urged the Prime Minister to \u201clook into this specific case\u201d of duty-free, the abolition of which would harm both the luxury and travel industries.<\/p>\n
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Before pointing out this crucial issue for his sector, Gerry Murphy was careful to create an opening by emphasizing that it was \u201cgreat to see that the Conservative government is clearly more business-friendly than some of its predecessors.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
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Gerry Murphy is not the first business leader to urge the Prime Minister to reinstate duty-free shopping for tourists. Luxury brands, department stores, and tourism operators (hotels) have been making the same demand for many months. But so far, they have been unsuccessful.<\/p>\n
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This time, however, Rishi Sunak did not completely close the door. Admittedly, he defended the measure, which he said was justified by \u201cgood reasons.\u201d But he also admitted that he would examine the data to \u201csee whether things are going as we had planned or not<\/i><\/b>.\u201d<\/i> \u201cWe take this very seriously, we are here to listen and engage,\u201d<\/i> he added. And luxury players are likely to continue to make their voices heard on the subject…<\/p>\n
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