It seems a long time ago now that the country voted in favour of Brexit. It divided the nation in a way that only football tribalism has been able to do. But it made great promises about how we would be better off alone, separated from the rest of Europe. Ask the big retailers whether it’s worked for them and you will get a resounding “no”.

For years, the UK was the tourist destination of choice for overseas visitors, many of whom came to see the sights, of course, but thousands of them spent a ‘quiet fortune’ in our major retail outlets while they were here. Some even travelled specifically for the shopping.

One of the big attractions was the ability to recover VAT/duty when you took your goods back home with you. The UK allowed full recovery, subject to any charges you incurred if you engaged a specialist firm to help you to do so. Post Brexit that all changed; the UK withdrew duty-free status for travellers to this country. Unsurprisingly, they stopped coming. Major British retailers of luxury goods claim that they have seen the percentage of their business from foreign visitors fall to a fraction of what it was before Brexit.

Is London a sufficient attraction compared to Paris or Rome?

Why would a foreign visitor, for whom shopping is an integral part of their trip, come to the UK when they can buy the same thing for 20% less abroad? And let’s be honest, is London really sufficient of an attraction for visitors compared to say Paris, Rome or Madrid if it doesn’t have the duty-free attraction of its retail outlets?

Apparently, the French capital is thriving. It didn’t take their government long after the UK’s announcement to promote the attractions of duty-free shopping in its major retail outlets. Their major retail outlets have seen business from foreign visitors boom whilst the UK’s was imploding.

It has got worse, with Britons attracted to Paris and other major European centres, taking their business abroad rather than shopping here in the UK. Eurostar have made it easy for them too, installing rows of refund machines and making them easy to use. Refunds in a matter of minutes. Where else can you get that these days?

Certainly not from HMRC!