20/02/13….Business rates the biggest issue facing high streets
BUSINESS Rates are the biggest issue facing towns and high streets, according to new research published by national charity, Action for Market Towns (AMT.
AMT has over 450 member towns all over the UK including market towns, small towns, coastal and seaside towns and some cities. It surveyed 205 towns across the UK, 105 of which are members of the organisation and 100 not, and asked them to name the most pressing issues affecting their town or high street ? and what the Government needs to do.
Business rates, high rents, car parking and competition from out of town retailers all featured highly, with Business Rates scoring as the most pressing issue for a majority of respondents. The towns surveyed were vocal in calling for Government action on the issue, with over a hundred towns making comments such as “Review business rate model. Flawed and outdated. Level the playing field for business rates between high street and online retail.”
Other participants called for stronger action and enforcement of the ‘Town Centre First’ policy around which AMT has been running a ‘Town Centre First WATCH’ campaign.
Chris Wade, AMT’s chief executive, commented: “We have listened to towns across the country and the message is that if the Government is serious about saving the High Street, it needs to review how business rate levels are set. This would play a part in leveling the playing field so that our towns can be competitive and find creative solutions to bounce back.”
ABOUT AMT
Action for Market Towns (AMT) is a national charity which works with 450 member towns and over 2500 stakeholders, all over the UK.
It provides practical support with town revitalisation projects, recognises great ideas and projects through the annual Towns Alive National Awards, measures towns’ strengths and weaknesses via town benchmarking; supports towns with neighbourhood and town plans and community engagement, and lobbies policymakers.
AMT and several other organisations recently issued a briefing note to members of the House of Lords, expressing concern about the postponement of revaluation of business rates, and stating that the postponement will:
“unfairly penalise hundreds of thousands of businesses by requiring them to pay excessive levels of tax for an additional two years in order to subsidise those in more prosperous areas. This will harm businesses in regions and sectors of the economy that that have underperformed relatively since 2008, and so will have a particularly devastating impact on struggling high streets.”
