The retailers association Bira has said the government's major ministerial reshuffle must bring fresh perspectives to critical policy areas that are hitting small businesses hard.
The British Independent Retailers Association (Bira) is urging new government appointees to prioritise business rates reform and reconsider employment legislation following the Prime Minister's shake-up of his top team.
Andrew Goodacre, CEO of Bira, said: "As the dust settles on all the ministerial changes, we hope that we do not lose momentum as new ministers become acquainted with their new roles. We would also like to see some new thinking from the new ministers with regards to business rates reform and the employment rights bill.
"Despite Treasury declaring the introduction of permanently lower multipliers for business rates, many thousands of independent retailers will be paying more business rates next year.
"The Employee Rights Bill has many changes that will make it harder and more expensive to employ people, with a disproportionate impact on smaller businesses. These are two key policy areas that require fresh thinking, and hopefully the changes in government personnel will take up the challenge."
Mr Goodacre highlighted that whilst the government has announced lower business rates multipliers, the reality for many of Bira's members is that they will still face increased costs in the coming year, creating additional financial pressures on already stretched independent retailers.
The appointment of Jason Stockwood, vice-chairman of Grimsby Town football club and successful businessman, to the Department for Business and Trade has been welcomed by the sector as bringing valuable private sector experience to government. However, Bira emphasises that this new expertise must be channelled into addressing the fundamental challenges facing Britain's independent retail sector.
Meanwhile, NFRN (the Fed) issued a statement that cautiously welcomed the “Transforming Business Rates: Interim Report”, which it noted includes a number of apparently positive initiatives which could benefit the retail sector and will be of special interest to small independent shops. The Report summarises the "Transforming Business Rates Discussion Paper" identifying areas of interest for reform and inviting industry to co-design a fairer system, published by the government at the Autumn Budget 2024.
The Fed’s National President Hetal Patel said: “Overall, the retail sector accounts for about five per cent of the economy, but 20 per cent of the Rates Bill and it is right that this area is subject to reform as our members face competition from online retailers based in out-of-town locations.
“Whilst the Fed welcomes the Chancellor and government’s focus in this area, we urge them to fully consider the importance of the retail sector – especially small independent shops, which are often at the heart of their communities and have rightly benefited from Rates Relief in the past.
“Many of our members had higher rates bills in April because of lost Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief in the last Budget and will await this year’s Budget and the Business Rates Revaluation – which will occur for the first time since 2023 – with concern
“We are keen for the government to introduce new permanent retail, hospitality and leisure multipliers as low as possible from 2026, and to upwardly rate Small Business Rates for the very smallest businesses in line with inflation - but remain open to continued positive engagement in this area.”