UK retail CEOs push government to cut costs to tackle youth unemployment

More than 80 CEOs of the United Kingdom’s largest retailers, led by British Retail Consortium chief executive Helen Dickinson, have sent a coordinated letter to the prime minister urging immediate action on the youth unemployment crisis. The signatories argue that rising taxes, higher National Insurance contributions, and higher minimum‑wage costs are making entry‑level retail jobs unaffordable for employers. They call for a joint government‑retail taskforce, a reduction in the cost of employing young people, and reforms to employment and skills policy that support hiring and progression. Dickinson warned that retail supplies almost a quarter of all youth jobs and that “if government is serious about tackling youth unemployment, it cannot keep making it more expensive to create jobs.”