23 September 2022
Bira welcomes Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng's mini budget announcement
The British Independent Retailers Association has welcomed today's outline of the measures being brought in by the government.
Giving his statement in parliament, Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng said that the new measures he believed would 'boost growth' in the UK so it expands by an average of 2.4%.
He said the basic rate of income tax would be cut to 19p in April 2023 and the recent rise in National Insurance will also be reversed from 6 November this year. The planned increase in corporation tax will also be cancelled, it was announced.
Other measures also include duty rates for wine and alcohol will also be axed, and there will be VAT-free shopping for tourists.
Bira's CEO Andrew Goodacre said the measures would be much welcomed by businesses.
"Reversing or cancelling increases in National Insurance and corporation tax will reduce the cost burden faced by independent retailers. Along with the energy support announced this week, we now hope that retailers can plan and fully focus on this all important final quarter of the year (traditionally the busiest time of the year for many retailers).
"We also hope that the measures introduced to support households will restore consumer confidence and encourage shoppers back to the high streets. Consumer spending needs to increase or many independent retailers and high streets in general will continue to struggle," he added.
Earlier this week, the government also announced that it would be helping to cut energy bills for businesses.
They outlined plans to work with suppliers to reduce wholesale energy costs and rises in bills that businesses have seen. This is in addition to the Energy Price Guarantee for households.
They promised to provide a discount on wholesale gas and electricity prices for all non-domestic customers (which also includes UK businesses, the voluntary sector and public sector) whose current gas and electricity prices have been inflated. This is to be applied to fixed contracts agreed on, or after April 1 2022. It will also apply to energy usage from October 1 until 31 March 2023 and will run for a period of six months.
Mr Goodacre said: "It will be a relief to all independent retailers on the high street as they can now focus on the very important final quarter of the year.
"Our focus also now turns to helping the government determine which businesses are vulnerable due the energy increases as we feel indie retailers fall into this category. BIRA has been very vocal in asking for the details of this support and independent retailers can look forward to lower than expected energy bills. We now want to turn our focus on determining the businesses classed as vulnerable as we know they will receive longer term support. Rather than individual businesses, we need to show that the high street is a collection of businesses that support each other to make the place successful. No high street wants to see lots of empty shops so we need to focus on the vulnerability of the ‘place’.”
Mr Goodacre added that BIRA would be continuing to champion for change for independents, including for the wholesale business reform.
We're keen to understand our members' views on today's mini budget.
Please take a moment to complete our short survey, which will help us to ensure members' views are heard by Government and media."
The link to have your say, can be found here:
Want to commend on our social media profiles?
Found this news article useful?
Stay up to date and sign up for our newsletter for more
Newsletter Sign-Up
Visit the Hubs to see our resources!
Sustainability Hub
Finance Hub
Product Buying Hub
Sales and Marketing Hub
GDPR Hub