The Chancellor held a roundtable discussion on a future high street strategy last week, with Bira the sole voice representing smaller retail businesses.
Read an update on Bira's place at a roundtable discussion with the Chancellor from Andrew Goodacre, CEO
Hello,
As some of you know Bira was invited to a roundtable discussion with the Chancellor last week. The purpose of the meeting was to start discussions on a future high street strategy. In response to criticism about the increase in business rates, The Chancellor announced the development of a new strategy for high streets.
At the meeting there were various stakeholders from retail and hospitality, but only Bira representing the smaller retail businesses. There was a lot of good discussions focused on planning, partnerships, investment and making it easier to change businesses and places. Whilst we did not directly discuss the increasing tax burden on high street businesses, there was an acceptance that this also needs reviewing.
This meeting was the first step on any new high street strategy and we should be proud that Bira was invited to such a meeting and our views are welcome. We do not need to ‘re-invent any wheels’ and we need to give businesses the chance to succeed – those were our overriding messages, and we will keep pushing these objectives
Thank you.
Andrew
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Bira is at the forefront of championing the cause of independent traders and shopkeepers across Britain.
Our campaigns cover a wide spectrum of issues crucial to the success of independent traders including:
- Combatting the rising tide of retail crime
- Advocating for changes in legislation that promote fairness and flexibility
- Fighting for fairer business rates
- Overall reducing the regulatory burden
- £1 billion damages claim against Amazon by UK retailers
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