The Chancellor has ignored the retail sector’s call for a freeze on business rates in today’s Budget (March 20).
The British Retail Consortium and Forum of Private Business has called the snub “disappointing”.
Business rates are set to rise by 2.6 per cent in April.
Says Helen Dickinson, director general of the British Retail Consortium: “It’s very disappointing that the Chancellor has done nothing to halt next month’s business rates increase, which will add another £175 million to the half a billion pounds of rates rises that retailers have had to cope with over the last two years.
“One in nine high street shops is currently empty.
“An opportunity has been missed to make a difference to our troubled high streets and the communities that rely on them.
“It’s now even more important that the government delivers tangible action on its existing promise to review the formula for setting rates in future.”
Forum of Private Business spokesman Robert Downes says: “Ask any small businesses what they wanted to see from this Budget and many will have said ‘action on business rates’.
“We said before the Budget government couldn’t keep clobbering businesses with hike after hike and unfortunately we haven’t seen that sentiment acknowledged today by Mr Osborne.
“April’s increase, which now goes ahead as planned, will mean rates have spiralled by a mammoth 13 per cent in just three years.
“There aren’t many businesses who’ve seen income increase by anything close to that figure with sluggish growth and recession to contend with in the same period.”
Downes adds: “Business rates have risen so much in just a few years they are the number one enemy to many small firms and, we believe, are a big part of the problem behind the problems with our high streets too.
“It’s disappointing to see no action here – it was the obvious way to relieve pressure and is a missed chance for quick and easy relief for business.”
