A group of more than 50 major retail businesses have written to the Chancellor pleading for business rates reform. They are lobbying for greater parity with other forms of business premises and for store properties across the country to be treated more fairly. The letter says that ‘transitional relief ” has effectively seen retailers subsidise others to the tune of £543 million over the last three years. Nick Lakin, corporate affairs director for Kingfisher echoed the views of many other retail groups, saying: “The system is much too complex and it does not reflect modern retail.”
With record numbers of stores closing, business rates, as well as rents set in more buoyant times, are clearly crippling the retail sector which has been dealt, blow after blow, as store spending declines. It is hoped by retailers across the board that the Government will tackle a simplification of the business rates system to make it equitable for retailers across the country and help the sector to stabilise.
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