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An English department store chain will close its doors after more than 140 years blaming the crippling effects of Rachel Reeves’ tax-raid budget.
Chief executive Tony Brown said it was with ‘deep regret’ Beales would be shutting its Poole outlet and added ‘punitive’ taxes was the cause.
The company boss said the budget had added ‘significantly’ to costs and made the business unviable.
He said: ‘Ever since the punitive business taxes heaped on by the chancellor, the two NI increases and the national minimum wage increase, and the reduction of the rates relief to 40 per cent adding significantly to our costs, these punitive taxes have had the effect that the business has become unviable.
‘This, coupled with the risks and uncertainty of further tax increases in the coming years, have left us no other option.
‘We have been working with the Dolphin Centre who have been supportive along with our investors to ensure an orderly exit.
‘We have looked at everything possible and this is not a decision to be made lightly.’
Mr Brown referenced comments made by Marks and Spencer chief executive Stuart Machin that the retail sector was being ‘raided like a piggy bank’ and said he would ‘add hospitality to the list’.
The news comes after Beales closed its other outlet in Southport last year.
Pictured: Beale’s department stores in Southport, Liverpool. The outlet closed last year leaving only the store in Poole
Chief executive Tony Brown (pictured) said it was with ‘deep regret’ Beales would be shutting its Poole outlet and highlighted ‘punitive’ taxes as the cause
The Labour government has defended its budget saying it is necessary to plug a ‘black hole’ in the country’s finances and invest in different industries to get the economy growing
Once the biggest department stores in Dorset, the chain was originally established as The Fancy Fair by John Elmes Beale in 1881 and expanded through acquiring other department stores.
The outlet entered administration in January 2020 having formerly operated 23 branches, however a new company reopened the Beales store in Poole in August 2020 and the another store in Southport.
Manager of the Dolphin Shopping Centre where the store is located, John Grinnell, said he was ‘very sorry to see Beales go’.
He added: ‘We’re alarmed to see this happening to lots of retail businesses because of the new budget and National Insurance increase.’
A statement from the centre said future plans were yet to be confirmed for the unit but opportunities were being explored to ‘reimagine’ the space.
In addition to fashion, Beales had a furniture department and a household gifts section.
The Labour government has defended its budget saying it is necessary to plug a ‘black hole’ in the country’s finances and invest in different industries to get the economy growing.
Beales claimed to be the first department store in the world to feature a live Father Christmas character, dating back to 1885.
They have had locations around the UK including in Abingdon, Bedford, Bolton, Great Yarmouth, Hexham and Maidstone.
