Mulberry has told Andy Burnham that scrapping the tourist tax would put more work through British factories, in the clearest sign yet that luxury manufacturers intend to test the new Prime Minister’s promise of growth beyond the M25.
Chief executive Andrea Baldo said restoring VAT-free shopping for overseas visitors should be ‘high on the agenda’ for the new Prime Minister, arguing it would support jobs across the country, including at the handbag maker’s own manufacturing hub in Somerset.
The intervention lands as Mulberry’s losses narrowed from £32.2 million to £8.9 million, after a turnaround refocused on the home market. Sales rose 4 per cent to £125.5 million for the 52 weeks to 28 March, from £120.4 million a year earlier. Shares rose 5.8 per cent to 145p on Wednesday morning.
Baldo said axing the tax, which hundreds of businesses including Primark, Harrods and Burberry have urged previous governments to scrap, would ‘unlock an opportunity…which helps all the cities of the UK.’ He pointed to Liverpool and Manchester as particular beneficiaries, as well as London.
That framing is pointed. Burnham has pledged to deliver ‘good growth in every postcode’ with policies shifting economic and political power away from Westminster, and has already used the tax system to signal intent, scrapping VAT on household electricity bills on his second day in office. Mulberry’s argument is that VAT-free shopping is a regional policy dressed up as a London one.
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