Open Letter on Business Rates
Save our high streets, pubs and village shops!
This campaign is about scrapping business rates and replacing them with a fairer system that levels the playing field with online retail giants.
If you support a fairer deal for local businesses, sign the open letter using the form below.
Dear Chancellor,
We are writing as business owners and constituents in North East Hertfordshire, along with our MP, Chris Hinchliff, to urge you to take action to Save Our High Streets at the next Budget by replacing Business Rates with a fairer system that backs local businesses and gets our town centres and high streets thriving again.
Small and medium-sized businesses are the beating heart of North East Hertfordshire: the bustling town centre of Letchworth, the village shops that serve communities the length and breadth of our constituency, and the historic high streets of our market towns in Royston, Baldock and Buntingford, all make our home the place it is.
The common thread tying different businesses together is the raw deal they get from Business Rates, which have undermined our pubs and cafes, barbers and butchers for far too long. The Government has pledged a 20% cut in business rates for bars, clubs and music venues is welcome, but the time for tinkering with this system is long past. Business rates have got to go.
Labour was right to promise in its last election manifesto to abolish Business Rates and replace this outdated model with a fairer system that levels the playing field with online giants.
We should be encouraging the bricks-and-mortar stores that give atmosphere and vibrancy to our high streets, as well the first job opportunities to so many young people, but Business Rates do the opposite. The local bookshop or record store gets a worse deal than an online operator. This flawed system is based on a property’s value rather than a business’s profits, hammering firms going through a tough patch without recognising the social value they provide. It is overly complex, adding pressure to businesses trying to get on with the job, and for smaller businesses it is often simply too expensive.
Our local businesses are what turn a huddle of homes into a functioning community.
The fortunes of these businesses are essential to delivering good growth in every postcode. Ahead of the October Budget, we are asking you to back our businesses and replace Business Rates to Save Our High Streets.