Tish Dockerty, Chair of the Ludlow Chamber of Commerce, writes:
Independent retailers in many towns face rate increases which will force them out of business. (See Andy Boddington’s blog here and his more detailed analysis here.)
National chains are pushing up property values, and independents are paying for this in their rates. Higher property values do not mean more turnover. The unintended consequence will be bland high streets.
The Ludlow Chamber of Commerce is taking advice on options, but in the meantime you can support the national debate by signing this petition:
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/175433
If you care about the unique nature of Ludlow’s shops, get your friends to do the same.
You can email Tish here.
At 10,000 signatures…, government will respond to this petition
At 100,000 signatures…, this petition will be considered for debate in Parliament
Advertisements
I agree about business rates but also business rents.
In Church Stretton, we have empty shops. At the moment six, but six is so many, especially for small locations such as Ludlow and Church Stretton.
All it takes now are huge multi national stores to move in, who can afford the high business rates and rent to put our local small retailers out of business for good and creating ghost towns.
Maybe this is the quest of Shropshire Council
LikeLike
as a resent visitor to Ludlow and the area s around Shropshire ,it was a breath of fresh air to find such a variety of independent shops ,providing everything you could want ,from ironmongers to butchers ,bakers,fresh vegetables,clothes, i could go on ,but we live in what used to be a market town ,untill the big boys moved in and now it has become like every other town .Not a pretty sight. empty shops run, down properties ,with not many happy people about.Dont go the way our town and others have.
LikeLike