Supporting Our High Streets and Small Businesses
Posted by Laura Sandys, MP for South Thanet, at 16:29, Thu 19 December 2013:
With Christmas just around the corner, the lights are now twinkling around all our towns. This should of course be the busiest time of year for retailers but many of our small high streets shops are still facing huge challenges.
With more people buying gifts over the internet or at major centres, our shopping habits have changed dramatically over the last few years. Up and down the country, our high streets are telling us they need help.
Firstly, they need help from all of us to increase footfall. We recently celebrated the UK’s first Small Business Saturday, an event based on a US model that last year saw $5.5 million of sales generated. These types of initiatives are important because they remind all of us just how much we value that independent trader on the high street selling something a little bit different.
Small businesses also need support from decision-makers. A billion pound package of support for the UK’s high streets has just been announced by the Government and the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement included further good news for small businesses including: extending the doubling of Small Business Rates Relief to April 2015; a 50% discount for new occupants of retail premises empty for a year or more; helping with the cashflow by allowing businesses to pay bills over 12 months rather than 10; capping the Retail Price Index rise in bills to 2% whilst businesses were anticipating a 3.2% increase.
Parking rules branded as “over-zealous” by the Secretary of State for Communities are also up for discussion. Time and time again when I speak with local shop owners, they tell me that it is the parking charges that are putting customers off shopping in town. The Government has launched a consultation on their parking proposals which include giving communities a right to require authorities to review their parking strategies, including the level of charges.
This is a package that is really looking to help with all the different challenges that small businesses on our high streets face. And don’t forget that we can all help individually by using our high streets more. And as a bonus we get to see those Christmas lights sparkle!
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Posted by Maggy Hopker, 20:51, Fri 20 December 2013: (Is this post abusive?) #
Giving the public the right to require Local Council's to review their parking regs is really a very WEAK APPROACH to helping local shopkeepers.
This Government give a lot of help to multinational shops and to companies like Amazon companies who receive incentives to set up warehouses because they are providing jobs. These jobs often involve Zero hours type contracts and awful working environment. Contrast this with most family-run business employers' attitudes to their workforce.