30 May 2022
We learned over the weekend that the Prime Minister is set to announce, in line with Queen’s Platinum Jubilee on Friday, that the Government is preparing to open a consultation into how to further incorporate imperial measurements in Britain.
Even though the use of imperial weights and measurements is still legal, the EU Weights & Measures Directive, which came into force in 2000, meant that traders were required by law to use metric weights and measurements alongside imperial.
Whilst it’s expected that traders will still be free to choose what they wish to use, Bira believes the consultation would be a waste of taxpayers' money and could cause unnecessary ramifications for businesses who could feel more pressure to utilise imperial measurements to meet a minority of consumer expectation.
Bira CEO Andrew Goodacre says “This feels like a diversionary tactic to change the focus of attention from the current pressures faced by the PM. Trying to bring back a focus on imperial measurements is a pointless and unproductive initiative. We already have a choice, the younger generations are very comfortable with metric measurements, and these are the people we should be thinking about. The time and money spent on this non-starter would be better used on supporting indie retailers facing recessionary pressures and real business concerns.”
Imperial measurements are used in a number of different retail environments including groceries, hospitality, butchers, etc, but we want to know if you and your business would welcome bringing back imperial measurements in our short survey.
Complete the survey
Found this news article useful?
Stay up to date and sign up for our newsletter for more
Newsletter Sign-Up
Visit the Hubs to see our resources!
Sustainability Hub
Finance Hub
Product Buying Hub
Sales and Marketing Hub
GDPR Hub