Reform business rates to save our High Streets retailers urge

Struggling High Street businesses are calling for an urgent overhaul of corporate rates to help them ‘survive the winter’.

Retail and hospitality groups, including shops, restaurants and pubs, are facing skyrocketing costs and industry leaders say it’s a ‘make or break’ week for Liz Truss and her government.

She was forced to delay a policy blitz when she became prime minister this month for the national mourning period following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

But Truss is now expected to kick-start her premiership with a package of measures to boost the economy and stave off a wave of business closures and layoffs.

Company Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg is expected to unveil a business support package today that will cut utility bills in a similar fashion to a previous announcement for households.

And on Friday, Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng will present a so-called ‘growth plan’ to the House of Representatives that is expected to scrap corporate tax increases and reverse the controversial increase in national insurance contributions by 1.25 percentage points.

The announcements are part of a package aimed at boosting Britain’s weakening economy, with Truss saying yesterday that ‘lower taxes lead to economic growth’.

But despite expected tax cuts and support with utility bills, companies warn they face a “critical” situation with tens of thousands of businesses at risk.

In a letter to the Chancellor, the British Retail Consortium (BRC), which represents more than 200 major retailers, called for an immediate freeze on business rates.

The already heavy tax is set for an inflation-related increase that could add an additional £800m to retailers’ bills this year.

The BRC also calls for a fundamental tax reform to reduce the disproportionate burden on retailers.

‘The rising costs are starting to push through in prices’, says BRC CEO Helen Dickinson in her letter to Kwarteng.

“Consumer spending will come under significant pressure this winter as inflation continues to rise and energy bills continue to rise.”

The cry for help was echoed by a separate coalition of the UK’s largest retailers, including Tesco and B&Q owner Kingfisher.

The Retail Jobs Alliance (RJA) called for an immediate tax freeze and a review that would level the playing field between brick-and-mortar stores and their online rivals.

The alliance, whose members employ more than a million people, said lowering taxes will turn the tide of store closures and boost economic growth significantly.

And a poll for the lobby group found that a failure to review the tax could risk Truss losing the next general election.

It found that a fifth of Tory voters would leave the party in the next election without seeing ‘tangible improvements’ to their main streets – devastated by boarded up shops after years of decline.

Meanwhile, a group of leaders representing pubs, bars, hotels and restaurants said that while the energy price cap would be a “lifeline,” more support is needed to help businesses survive.

UK Hospitality, the British Beer and Pub Association and the Campaign for Real Ale wrote to Kwarteng for a break in business rates until March.

They said, “These two measures, along with the energy cap, would give our companies immediate breathing space to continue serving their communities this winter and prevent an unfolding catastrophe.”