The British Independent Retail Association (Bira) has urged new government appointees to prioritise business rates reform and reconsider employment legislation following the Prime Minister’s shake-up of his top team.
The government’s major ministerial reshuffle must bring “fresh perspectives to critical policy areas that are hitting small businesses hard”, said the trade association.
The appointment of Jason Stockwood, vice-chairman of Grimsby Town football club and businessman, to the Department for Business and Trade has been welcomed by the sector as “bringing valuable private sector experience to government”.
However, Bira said this new expertise must be channelled into addressing the fundamental challenges facing Britain’s independent retail sector.
Whilst the government has announced lower business rates multipliers, many indie retailers would still face increased costs in the coming year, said Bira.
“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,” said Andrew Goodacre, chief executive of Bira.
“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.”
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