68 In mid-June, the Government appointed a Cost of Living Business Tsar: David Buttress, the former Chief Executive of Just Eat, the food delivery company. Immediately, he urged businesses, whose profit margins have been nibbled due to various factors since early 2020, to “step up” and present him with ideas to save people cash. Buttress has revealed a six-month, four-point plan to reduce costs, focused on the summer holidays, the back-to-school period, the expected increase in bills in the autumn, and around Christmas when families feel the pinch the most. At the end of June, he told business leaders at a Confederation of British Industry event that it was time for them to “join a national effort [and play a] full part in easing the burden for millions of people.” Buttress continued: “All of us in our lives remember when we needed a helping hand, and we remember those who stepped up. This is a moment to roll our sleeves up and get stuck in. CEOs want to make deals. The deal here is to help the British people through the next six months. We can all brainstorm the best ideas of others, and scale them up to help millions.” Undoubtedly, that thousands of people have been plunged into fuel and food poverty for the first time in recent months is alarming. And it’s clear that businesses must play a part in the recovery. However, I’m concerned about some of the ideas being mooted and how they might impact companies – and consumers – in the long term if not managed correctly. Lower cost but higher risk? For instance, some talk was about encouraging supermarkets and manufacturers to reduce marketing campaigns significantly to lower the price of goods to the enduser. It would appear that even the Government is at odds with this policy as it recently decided to allow BOGOFs and promotions on a range of goods to continue. Do policymakers not understand that this activity comes with investment in spend with retailers and in its own right requires marketing around campaigns, and so on? Since Buttress’s appointment, the Government has announced it will award a brand/ logo to companies who do their bit to help. However, as was mentioned at the CBI meeting, some leaders complained that it would be hard as they have already been stretched as far as possible. Indeed, while this is a good idea, in theory, I’m not sure it will work in practice. The challenge being that either everyone or no one should do this. And what are the odds of the former happening? If some retailers decide to take this approach and competitors don’t participate – and no one will force them to – then it will negatively impact their market share. The latter group might decide to promote fewer of their premium brands but raise the profile of secondary VISION & STRATEGY
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