Chiswick Traders Give Cautious Welcome To Budget Rates Cut

However some say it may be 'too little too late' for the High Road

The Budget cut in business rates by a third for smaller shops has been cautiously welcomed by independent retailers in Chiswick.

The Chancellor Philip Hammond announced that the government will provide £675million to create a “future high streets fund” that councils can access to redevelop their high streets.

There will be a business rates revaluation in 2021 but to provide relief in the meantime, for the next two years all companies with rateable value of £51,000 or less will have their business rates bill cut by one third.

However there is a warning that it may be 'too little too late' with the local retailers being hard hit due to online shopping and the proximity of Westfield.

There are a significant number of shops who will not benefit particularly those on the High Road as their rateable value is above the threshold. However, the move could mean an annual saving of up to £8,000 per annum for up to 90 per cent of all independent shops, pubs, restaurants and cafes.

According to Councillor Jo Biddolph, who is fighting for better conditions for High Road traders, the rates cut is a boost to independent traders. However, she thinks a complete overhaul of the system is required to really deal with the problem.

She said, "For many independent businesses, a two year reduction in business rates means two more years of uncertainty.  What will happen at the end of it?  Yes, it might mean they can continue to trade rather than close their doors leaving an empty shop, but if they are only just scraping by it brings little comfort.  What was needed was an admission that the business rates system is wrong and will be overhauled - not just that there will be a rates revaluation. That would have given independent traders more certainty about their ability to trade for the long term - and the encouragement to continue to evolve and innovate, both of which require significant investment."

She felt that the Chancellor could have done more to acknowledge the efforts and importance of smaller independent traders and added, "While the £675m high street fund is welcome, the extent to which our independents will benefit will depend on how much is allocated to Hounslow and how much Hounslow allocates to Chiswick.  That depends on how much Hounslow listens to what its independent traders - wherever they are in the borough - need.  We can all remember the way having a town centre manager failed Chiswick - a year of potential improvements lost, never to be replaced.  Imposing ideas proposed by people with absolutely no experience of setting up and running a small independent business is the wrong way to go."   

She said that the Chiswick Shops Task Force of which she is a member is ready to help Hounslow Council consult with local independent businesses in Chiswick on how it should spend its high street improvement fund to ensure that the money is well and effectively spent to benefit local independent traders.   

Mike Moran, who runs Top Hat, the dry cleaners in Devonshire Road, welcomed the reduction. His business rate should go down from £15k to the £10k he was paying two years ago. But he warned that the Government needed to come up with more than a temporary fix. “We’ve had this two year relief before and yes it helps but the Government needs to fix the business rates we pay properly or the high street will continue to die off”.

David Lesniak, co-owner of Outsider Tart cafe said, “The problems facing the High Road are systemic. This is sticking a finger in the dyke while the pressure builds behind it.”

Cllr Steve Curran, Leader of Hounslow Council, said, "All our high streets have faced extortionate rises in rents by some landlords, as well as high business rates, the increased popularity of online shopping and the juxtaposition to Westfield, one of the biggest shopping centres in Europe, which has meant that less shopping is done in the high street. Unfortunately, this has resulted in many independent high street shops, bars and restaurants closing.

“We welcome the Chancellor’s decision to cut business rates by a third for all retailers with a rateable value of £51,000 or less, which could mean an annual saving of up to £8,000 per annum for up to 90 per cent of all independent shops, pubs, restaurants and cafes. I hope the Chancellor's measures are not too little or too late.

“We also welcome the Chancellor’s announcement to create the ‘Future High Streets Fund’ but we will have to wait to see how this will be allocated, as always, the devil is in the detail.
“We will continue to work with small and medium businesses, and the Hounslow and Brentford Chambers of Commerce to do all we can to support businesses in Hounslow.”

November 2, 2018