Retail


‘Go Local’ partnership is connecting communities


Barclays have launched a new partnership with Nextdoor to help connect people across the UK with local businesses in their communities. The ‘Get Local’ partnership will


enable UK businesses which are part of Nextdoor to directly connect and communicate with new customers, as well as existing local customers. It will allow businesses to opt-in to a dedicated ‘Coronavirus Open for Business Directory’ so that residents can easily see which local businesses are trading. Nextdoor is a privately-held


company based in San Francisco with members who join through an app, striving to build stronger, safer, happier communities, all over the world. Members rely on Nextdoor in the


United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Australia, and Canada. Businesses will be able to publish


two posts for free each month, allowing them to share vital information such as new opening hours, delivery options and special offers. These new features will help


businesses connect with their local community, which is critical as many local businesses have had to temporarily close or have been significantly affected by social distancing guidelines during the Covid-19 pandemic.


networks to connect with neighbours. Nextdoor experienced a spike of 91 per cent in engagement on the UK platform from February to April. Nick Lisher, head of EMEA at


Nextdoor said, “At Nextdoor, we believe when local businesses thrive, communities thrive and so we are proud to be partnering with Barclays to launch ‘Get Local’ to support local businesses during this difficult and challenging time.” Hannah Bernard, managing


director for Barclays Business Banking, said: “We understand that small businesses up and down the country are struggling with the impacts of Covid-19 right now, and we will do everything we possibly can to support them. “At the same time, we recognise


Business support: Hannah Bernard


‘Small businesses up and down the country are struggling with the impacts of Covid- 19’


Barclays business customers who


sign up to Nextdoor will also be able to take advantage of a free ‘Local Deal’, a targeted commercial advertisement to the local area, worth up to hundreds of pounds in marketing spend. During this challenging time, communities are turning to social


that people want and need to purchase key items locally whilst abiding by social distancing measures.” Barclays are encouraging


businesses to sign-up to Nextdoor to start connecting and communicating with their local community that they’re open for business. To set up a free Nextdoor


business page visit https://go.nextdoor.com/local- businesses


Barclays Business Customers can claim their free ‘Local Deal’ by visiting www.barclays.co.uk/ business-banking/nextdoor


Closing time: The Debenhams store in the Bull Ring


Debenhams to close stores


Debenhams is to close its stores in Hammerson-owned shopping centres, including Birmingham’s Bull Ring, with the loss of 1,000 jobs in total. Stores in Leicester’s


Highcross will also close after the retailer failed to agree terms with Hammerson. Other branches to shut will


be Croydon’s Centrale, Silverburn in Glasgow and the store at Reading’s Oracle A spokesperson for Debenhams said: “We can confirm that despite our best efforts, we have been unable to agree terms with Hammerson on our five stores in its shopping centres, and so they will not be reopening. “We continue to engage in


constructive talks with our landlords and have agreed terms on the vast majority of our stores, which we look forward to reopening when Government restrictions allow.” Last month Debenhams announced it had reached a deal with landlords over 120 of its 142 stores.


Victory for common sense in ATM case


A seven-year court battle involving the taxation of cash machines at supermarkets has ended in a victory for common sense, according to a Birmingham rating expert. The Supreme Court has ruled that automated


teller machines (ATM) at supermarkets such not be additionally assessed for rating purposes, despite the Government’s Valuations Office Agency claiming otherwise. The Supreme Court’s ruling upheld a judgement dating back to November 2018 in the Court of Appeal that ruled that ATMs located both inside and outside of stores should not be assessed for additional business rates on top of the normal store rates costs retailers are already facing.


Although the Court of Appeal refused the


VOA permission to appeal against its decision, in May 2019, the Supreme Court overruled and allowed the right of appeal, a decision branded as a costly ‘nightmare’ by rating experts Colliers, which has an office in Birmingham. John Webber, head of business rates at Colliers, said: “This is a massive relief, not only


be in the region of £496 million. The company said that the VOA must now


concede all of the appeals that have snarled up the system since the case began, of which there are around 40,000. Mr Webber said: “This is overall a great result


for the supermarkets involved, but also for the consumers who need access to these machines. “Many would have suffered if the judgement


went the other way and retailers ripped the ATMs out of their stores, to save extra rates bills, denying many in the local community free access to cash.” Colliers says that each ATM site would have


attracted an average rates liability of around £4,000. The refunds to the supermarkets should


and we are delighted the courts saw sense. There was a real fear that if the VOA had been successful, not only would it have led to the ripping out of ATM machines but it would also have opened up the floodgates to assess up to 400,000 vending operations which would have been calamitous for both retailers and these operators.” “Of course, the tragedy over all of this is the


total waste of taxpayers' money in pursuing this unnecessary and unfair claim. “The local authorities are unlikely to have


accrued for this cost and at the end of the day it is Joe Public who will suffer. Let’s hope the zealots at the VOA get back in the box and get on with dealing with the outstanding appeals instead of trying to take a swipe at the retail sector and the community at large."


June/July 2020 CHAMBERLINK 59


Sector Focus


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