The British Independent Retailers Association has criticised this week’s Budget, warning it has not gone far enough to support the ailing high street
The British Independent Retailers Association (BIRA) has criticised this week’s Budget, warning that measures announced by the Chancellor on Wednesday risk putting further pressures on struggling independent retailers.
Andrew Goodacre, CEO of Bira, said the new business rates multipliers represented “tinkering around the edges” rather than the transformation promised by government. While welcoming the two-year extension of Small Business Rates Relief, he said the changes to multipliers had not gone far enough and would see many retailers faced with bill increases up to 30 per cent higher in the year ahead.
“Nearly all our members will be paying significantly more in rates next year,” he said. “That’s simply unacceptable when businesses are already struggling with rising costs.”
BIRA’s biggest concern, however, was a further delay to the closure of the low-value import duty loophole, which allows unscrupulous overseas sellers to dodge fees, and risks further increasing the number of unregulated goods entering the country through online marketplaces.
“Why wait another four years?” Goodacre said. “Four years is an extraordinary amount of time. We’re being told to live with unfair competition from overseas sellers dodging duties, VAT and safety standards while our members play by the rules and pay their taxes. We could learn from other countries who’ve acted far more quickly.”
Goodacre also took aim at the increase in national living wage, which will rise to £12.71 for the majority of working adults. He said that, while the association supports higher wages, compounding pressures elsewhere are leaving retailers struggling to absorb the mandated increases.
“Business rates aren’t coming down for most shops despite government claims, labour costs are rising well above inflation, and we’ve got another four years of unfair competition to endure. This is not a budget that independent retailers will welcome,” he added.
