In advance of the Chancellor’s November Budget, the British Independent Retailers Association (bira) secured an audience with a host of MPs at the House of Commons earlier this week to launch its business rates reform plan. Some nine MPs attended the launch, headed by Geoffrey Clifton Brown, Conservative MP for the Cotswolds.
The launch was the result of two years’ work by bira to remove the current rate relief cliff edge. The plan suggests that all small businesses with a rateable value of up to £51,001, the current definition of a larger business, should have an allowance of at least £8,075.
“This could potentially be the most significant meeting in bira history,” commented Kate Godber, senior communications and PR officer for bira. “With so many MPs attending, it is good to know that they are listening to the real concerns of the UK’s independent retailers.”
The launch at the House of Commons followed on from a meeting at Downing Street in August 2017 when bira met up with Jimmy McLoughlin, a special advisor to Number 10.
At the meeting, bira suggested that if there was an allowance, not a cliff edge of £12,000, this would mean that smaller businesses would not be under constant pressure, but instead able to contribute extra productivity and profit to the UK. In addition, it would mean that the Government could scrap all current and often short term reliefs that cost the treasury at least £2.6bn a year.
Top: The British Independent Retailers Association (bira) attended a meeting at House of Commons on September 11 to launch the association’s business reform plan.
