// M&S boss Stuart Machin urges government to launch a review of legislation and its implementation
// He called for “decisive” action from chancellor Jeremy Hunt in the Spring Budget on Wednesday
Marks & Spencer CEO Stuart Machin has urged the government to launch a review of legislation and its implementation as the burden on retail increases.
Machin has called for “decisive” action from chancellor Jeremy Hunt in the Spring Budget on Wednesday.
Machin said: “I have never known the burden on retail sit as heavy as it does today”.
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“On many of these policy areas we share the government’s ambition for much-needed change, however, when you put them together, they risk being overwhelming and unproductive, creating an unsustainable ask,” he added.
Machin also said that the UK’s apprenticeship levy and approach to skills “is not fit for purpose”.
“Talk needs to become action, with renewed focus on lifelong learning on the skills we need to build a modern economy,” he said. “There is a real issue – and opportunity – in mass upskilling of retail workers in digital skills.”
He called on the government to “roll out charging points for e-vehicles, including HGVs, and develop on-shore recycling for key materials, including textiles” to help with its net-zero ambitions.
