Retailers have urged the government to overhaul business rates after a report warned that 100,000 shops could close within a decade, creating ghost towns across the UK unless action is taken.
Following a review from veteran retail boss Bill Grimsey, the British Retail Consortium called (BRC) for rates – a tax on the value of a firm’s premises – to be frozen for two years. The move would provide some relief for a beleaguered sector that has seen more than 20,000 thousand job cuts already this year.
“The retail industry, the UK’s largest private sector employer, makes up 5 per cent of the economy and pays nearly 25 per cent of the overall business rates bill, over £7bn per year,” the BRC said.
