Frasers Group has struck out against the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA)’s guidance on RRPs (Recommended Retail Prices).
In an open letter to the ASA, the Group’s CFO Chris Wootten says the recently republished guidance contains “fundamental flaws” and creates “unreasonable and we say unlawful barriers in the way of vigorous price competition in the market.”
“Unacceptably vague”
He argues that the ASA’s requirement for traders to establish that the RRP is the price “generally sold in the market” is “unacceptably vague’ and a test that is not required under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. Wootten adds that the requirement will put traders off using RRPs to highlight legitimate discounts, which will be to the detriment of consumers struggling with the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, and asks the ASA to reconsider its guidance.
The letter from Wootten follows a stinging letter from Frasers Group’s owner Mike Ashley last week to the Prime Minister Andy Burnham, in which he described Burnham’s high street plans as “delusional”. Seen by TheIndustry fashion, the letter criticises Burnham’s plan to pay for cuts to business rates for pubs and clubs by taxing the warehouse space of larger retailers, and says his plans to look at retail business rates in the next Budget would be “too little too late.”
Rate cuts necessary to avoid job losses
Ashley warns that job losses could be the inevitable consequence of the Government failing to address retail’s problems. “It is the disastrous business rates position (which I have raised many times over the years) and the dramatically increasing cost of employing people that are really causing business to struggle,” Ashley wrote. “Ironically, this only leads to a further loss of jobs which is the opposite of what was intended.”
A Downing Street spokesperson responded: “The Prime Minister has said he will build a new economy that backs British business, delivers growth in every postcode and ensures the essentials in life – like energy, water and housing – are affordable again.”
Frasers Group is one of the UK’s largest retailers, and has been engaged in an ambitious expansion programme, including the recent acquisition of Harvey Nichols. With two high-profile interventions in as many weeks, the company now appears to be positioning itself as a vocal defender of the sector at a time when retailers say costs and compliance burdens are continuing to mount.
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