Fed members, and independent retailers in general, continue to represent a key part of the retail economy, providing hundreds of thousands of jobs across the UK.
However, independents also take pride in the responsible role they play in the communities they serve, providing a range of services which offer tangible social benefits including in areas like postal, payment, parcel and other initiatives leading to the sector being considered a “High Street of Last Resort” by The Economist magazine.
That said, however responsible, members face a range of social, regulatory and cost challenges which are harder to navigate with the small teams they tend to employ.
One major challenge is the continued surge in retail crime, which includes theft, harassment and violence.
While the government is providing new resources to Neighbourhood Policing - as shown by recent initiatives like the Safer Summer Streets campaign – and introducing the new offence of assaulting a retail worker, it remains a challenging environment.
More than seven out of 10 Fed members said they had experience of retail crime in the previous year, when last surveyed.
Our members have reacted to a range of regulatory changes in recent years, and the Fed works to update and support our members on these.
Recent changes include the single use vape ban and waste management.
Another regulatory pressure that is coming down the tracks is the Employment Rights Bill, which could create extra complexity for retailers of all sizes but could be particularly challenging for independent retailers.
Costs have also risen markedly in recent years and have made running a small business even more challenging. These include energy price rises after the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, as well as recent major tax rises including national insurance contributions.
As responsible employers, our members support the National Living Wage’s role in ensuring unscrupulous employers reward work with a basic level of income.
However, our members have faced above inflation increases in the NLW in recent years (6.7% in 2025) and it has also risen particularly fast (10% in 2025) for those aged 18-20. The Fed and our members are writing to the Chancellor to ask that any further changes are carefully considered.
An area in which small retailers have benefited from more protection in recent years is business rates. We have called for Small Business Rates Relief to be protected so it is index linked to inflation.
We also want to see multipliers facing bigger businesses set as low as possible for those who do not benefit from it and may lose out with the scheduled revaluation in business rates and reduction in Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief.
We have always argued that in business rates – and in terms of the social, regulatory and other cost pressures our members face - this is deserved because of the vital role we play at the heart of local economies and communities.
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