Tesco chief urges retailers be exempt from warehouse tax raid

The Telegraph·8 Oct 2026·

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Ken Murphy, the chief executive of Tesco, has urged John Healey to exclude retailers from "fundamentally unfair" plans to mount a tax raid on large warehouses in the Budget. Murphy said the current business rate regime had already left the retail sector paying four times more than it should given its size within the overall economy, and called for an "exemption for all retail businesses from the new rateable value threshold", arguing high street retailers should not pay a higher business rate multiplier on larger warehouses with a rateable value of more than £500,000. Rachel Reeves introduced a higher rate surcharge for larger commercial properties in last year's Budget, which came into force in April, and Andy Burnham has since signalled this so-called "Amazon tax" could be ramped up further on warehouses in the upcoming Budget to help fund an announced 20pc rate cut for smaller businesses that "bring social benefit", such as pubs and live music venues, from next April. Retail bosses have warned the new rates could be passed on to consumers as higher prices, since high street supermarkets rather than online retailers occupy the majority of warehouse space, and analysis by the consultancy firm Ryan showed the 10 warehouses with the biggest business rates bills in the country are owned by Lidl, Tesco, John Lewis, Sainsbury's and Marks & Spencer. Murphy's comments came as Tesco increased its profit guidance, telling investors it expected to make between £3.15bn and £3.3bn in the year to February, up from the £3bn to £3.3bn range projected in April, with like-for-like UK sales up 1.5pc in the first six months of the financial year to the end of August and 1pc higher for the group as a whole, while operating profits climbed 6.6pc to £1.7bn. Murphy also said he expected a less boozy Christmas than in previous years, with more sales of "low and no" alcohol drinks reflecting a trend towards healthier eating and drinking dating back to the pandemic.

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