NEWS EXTRA


LOCAL HIGH STREETS TO GAIN £675M FOR REDEVELOPMENT IN 2018 BUDGET


Chancellor Philip Hammond delivered the Autumn Budget last week, where he announced monetary plans for the UK’s struggling High Streets, reduction in the Apprenticeship levy and business rate relief for small companies. Kiran Grewal reports.


acknowledged the high street T he Chancellor


a ddr es se d Parliament last week, announcing the Autumn Budget for 2018, where he is


“under pressure as never before” and said he believed the tax system for the digital age must be revised. Commenting initially, British Retail Consortium chief executive Helen Dickinson OBE said: “The Government has missed a much- needed opportunity to help the retail industry. While we welcome measures to assist smaller retailers, the majority of the UK’s 3.1million retail workers are employed in businesses that will not benefit from today’s business rates announcement.


“If the Government is to truly back business, it must engage in more extensive business rates reform to help all retailers and their employees through this period of transformation.”


Business rates relief Small retail businesses will see their business rates bills cut by a third for two years from April 2019, saving them £900million. Local high streets will benefit from £675million to improve transport links, re-develop empty shops as homes and offices and restore and re-use old and historic properties. Public lavatories will receive 100% business rates relief. This adds to previous reductions in business rates since Budget 2016 which will save firms over £12billion over the next five years.


Helen Dickinson continued: “While we welcome the temporary support being given to small businesses, these measures alone are not sufficient to enable a successful reinvention of our high streets. “Retailers are currently in the midst of a perfect storm of factors – technology changing how people shop, rising public policy costs and


10 DIY WEEK 09 NOVEMBER 2018


softening demand.


“Rather than tinkering around the edges, struggling high streets require wholesale reform of business rates in order to thrive. The issue remains that the business rates burden is simply too high.” “Retailers welcome the measures announced by the Treasury to invest new funding to boost high streets and town centres and facilitate re-invention to modern and diverse destinations. We await with interest further details of the plans, particularly around how the funding will be targeted, who will eligible and how quickly funds will be made available.” Parcel Hero’s head of consumer


research, David Jinks MILT, said that a no-deal Brexit could have an impact on the announcements, no matter how loudly the Government


shouts about all the spending increases will all take place “irrespective of Brexit”. “There would be no need to announce potentially upgrading the Spring statement into a new hard- Brexit budget if it were really to have no impact on today’s spending plans,” said Mr Jinks. “There is a lot for retailers and consumers to applaud in the budget; but speaking as a business at the coalface of customs borders, we believe the new tariffs and delays a no-deal Brexit would create would make today’s announcements unsustainable.”


The British Independent Retailers Association (BIRA) said it was welcome news for the high street that the Government is going to reduce business rates by up to a third for businesses with a rateable


value of £51,000 or below. The current threshold of £12,000 only helps the smallest of shops, so this will make a real difference, the association said. BIRA CEO Andrew Goodacre commented: “We have worked very hard in the past few months to promote our idea to reduce rates for independent retail businesses. This is a positive move by the Government but more detail is needed, and quickly, if the high streets


are to become a vibrant part of our communities. We hope therefore that the Government will continue to work with the sector to ensure that this policy is effectively rolled out and benefits those it is meant to.” BIRA


Government’s proposal to establish a £675million fund to


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also welcomes the


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