Over 600 trade units on prominent UK high streets may be at risk of permanent closure due to the upcoming hike in business rates, according to a new research by High Streets UK, a lobbying group founded by the New West End Company (NWEC). The information was gathered from a poll of 115 high street companies, who stated that their top concern is growing operating expenses.
This is especially relevant to the measures that were revealed in the Government’s Autumn Statement, which indicated that starting in April, firms will have to pay more in national insurance, raise the national minimum wage, and alter business rates.
The House of Lords has decided to remove important provisions from the reform plans that targeted properties with a rateable value of over US $ 648,000. Manufacturing facilities, flagship stores, and healthcare organisations will not be affected by this change, according to the vote.
Most companies that may be affected by the new higher multiplier would try to control expenses by evaluating employees, which might jeopardise up to 5,500 jobs in high street locations, according to a High Streets UK poll. In order to balance higher tax burdens, prices would need to increase by almost 3 per cent, since 64 per cent of businesses stated they would think about passing on additional costs to customers.
A third of the businesses polled mentioned further steps, such as possibly evaluating investment strategy in the UK or closing specific sites, which could jeopardise 600 units and potentially lead to the closure of over 200 more.
High Streets UK stated that the multiplier is 5.1 times more likely to affect properties on flagship high streets like Birmingham and Liverpool, despite the Labour Government’s current policies aiming to target online giants. In response to the Government’s recommendations, the group has already presented its own alternative ideas, urging that any further multiplier increases be stopped until at least 2027 and that a thorough impact analysis of the suggested multiplier increases be carried out.
