Amazon is killing businesses and rents and rates are crazy... we need a tax on online sales
LORD SUGAR ON CRISIS FACING OUR
As a self-made multi-millionaire and, for the past 13 years, the star of The Apprentice, Lord Sugar has come to epitomise business wisdom and know-how.
Yet when asked for insight into how to turn around the fortunes of our struggling town centres, even he might have to tell himself: “You’re fired!”
But he does know where to point the finger at those responsible.
“I don’t think there is a way we can revitalise the high street,” he says, grimly.
“It’s a difficult task. The companies that are getting bigger and bigger like Amazon are online.
“One of things I would like to do is invoke, and I don’t know how you would go about doing this, a tax on online purchases on top of VAT and things like that. But then again, you are going to affect the small-time trader like us.
“Amazon, for example, worldwide is killing every single business. Every single business.
“You want to buy a camera, you go into Curry’s PC World, you have a look, a nice chap talks to you about the camera and then you say, ‘Yes, you’ll think about it’, then you go home, search the internet and get it online – and it’s delivered the next day. And if you don’t like it, you can send it back.”
It seems only fair to ask if Lord Sugar shops online.
“My wife buys stuff online, I don’t buy online,” he says. “For example, hard products like cameras and all that I go to a friend of mine who has a camera shop.
Watches, I go to a friend of mine who sells me watches. I would never buy a watch online,” the 71-year-old mogul says, flashing a Rolex on his wrist.
“I can’t remember the last thing I bought online,” adds the billionaire, who started selling goods out of a van.
Lord Sugar, who trades on his no-nonsense image, suggests some high street shops would be OK.
“Touchy-feely stuff, where you need to actually go and touch and feel or eat it, I suppose has still got a life,” he says. “But our high street is made up now of coffee shops, delis and little cafes and nail bars, and all that type of stuff.”
Is he not worried our communities could become derelict unless we turn high streets around?
“It’s worrying but I don’t know what the solution is,” he says. “Unless it’s some niche market like clothing or dresses or menswear or whatever that’s specialised.”
Lord Sugar appears resigned to people now shopping online, saying: “I mean, most people now, young ladies in particular, buy a load of their clothes online.
“You have the opportunity of buying five dresses at once and sending four back to see which one suits you more.
“You’ve even got the situation where a nasty person will buy a dress online wear it to a party and send it back anyway.”
Lord Sugar, whose dad started in the rag trade, warms to his theme: “On top of that you have giants like Primark and Matalan that now have not the traditional season you used to have in fashion – autumn, winter and summer – but 52 seasons, every week they are replenishing the store with new range.
“And the cost of the merchandise is such it’s disposable. Many years ago, a young lady would buy herself a rather expensive dress in relation to her salary.
“Now she can go and buy a dress for the same price as a gin and tonic and throw it away.” This is not, it should be said, entirely on-message with the Mirror’s High Street fightback campaign, which is promoting positive ways of reviving our towns and cities.
Today, though, our most famous businessman wants to mainly talk about cakes. In particular, he wants to chat about the Ridiculously Rich cake brand created by Apprentice winner Alana Spencer, which may or may not have
I don’t know what the solution is. Unless it’s some niche market
been named in honour of the man who hired her.
Tonight, the 14th series of The Apprentice starts on BBC1 and if the super-keen, super-confident whizkids class of 2018 want to know what awaits, they should probably have a chat with Alana.
At least that way, the 2016 champion of the hit BBC1 reality show would get a word in the conversat Alana wants to tell Mirror about her n Grab ‘n’ Go range – w includes, appropria enough, millionai shortbread, and which plans to sell through “cakepreneurs But this is proving something challenge, as every time she start speak Lord Sugar interrupts her. Th