The Forum of Private Business (FPB) has urged the government to take measures to protect small, independent retailers, following the publication of the final report of the Conservative Party’s Commission into small shops on the high street.
The FPB was consulted as part of the report, and many of its recommendations feature in the finished product, including proposed planning options to encourage a diverse retail mix, consideration of the impact of parking charges on high street trade and a review of spiralling business rates.
The FPB said with small shops disappearing at a rate of 2,000 each year, the government must take heed of the Commission’s recommendations in order to halt the decline.
During the inquiry’s preliminary findings, announced in April, the Party’s Parliamentary Enterprise Group repeated a warning made in 2006 by the all-party Small Shops Group that the majority of the UK's small shops could disappear by 2015.
However, the Competition Commission’s recent inquiry into the groceries market said their future is not under threat.
The latest report has found small shops are being driven away from high streets because of “a range of undue pressures which disproportionately affect the small retailer, from crippling tax and regulatory burdens, through to the rising tide of antisocial behaviour”.
“The commission’s proposals directly address the problems faced by high street retailers,” said the FPB’s Chief Executive, Phil Orford.
“Unlike the Competition Commission, which appears to have its head buried in the sand when it comes to recognising the very real threats to smaller shops across the UK, the Parliamentary Enterprise Group is facing these serious concerns head-on.
“The FPB is now calling on the Government to listen and act to remove the significant barriers to survival and growth for small firms,” he added
© Crimson Business Ltd. 2008
