We discussed growing anger over the British Retail Consortium's push for an online sales tax yesterday - a tax supported by the likes of Justin King at Sainsbury's, Ian Cheshire at B&Q and former Tesco chief Sir Terry Leahy.
We first flagged this was on its way at the beginning of April but finally the online retail community seems to be getting its house in order and responding in kind.
Shop Direct chief executive Alex Baldock - whose brands include very.co.uk, isme.com and littlewoods.com - has became the latest to slam the suggestion.
He told Retail Week magazine: 'Any taxation must be fair, encourage growth and generate jobs. An online tax would fail on all three counts. And while property may be a higher cost for bricks and mortar retailers, so are distribution and returns for online retailers. Why penalise someone for their choice of business model?'
Retail Week, normally very much in tune with the BRC, carried the story at the bottom of page seven of the magazine so perhaps don't expect any reaction from the BRC just yet. But it illustrates the groundswell and the piece also said other online retailers including BrandAlley chief executive Rob Feldmann, and sex toy etailer Lovehoney - who described the BRC and Justin King as 'playground bullies' - supported the anti-BRC campaign.
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