Some 70% of SMEs in the UK say that not enough is being done by councils or the government to support the nation’s high streets, according to findings from research commissioned by Close Brothers Asset Finance. And while this is an overall figure, some areas are even more strident about the need for support – 83% of independent retailers in the South East, 80% in Wales, 78% in the South West and 74% in East Anglia.
When asked what was the biggest single cause of the problems for indies, business rates and rents came out tops, followed by parking.
Q: Of these options, which is the single biggest cause of problems on the high street?
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The survey, carried out by GMI, canvassed the opinion of nearly 1,000 SME owners across the UK and RoI.
Janet Stow, owner of Love Letters card shop in Anlaby, Hull shares her views:
What is being done to help indies in your area?
“Unfortunately there is nothing currently happening in our area to help indies, however I am hoping that nearer Christmas there will be a Best Window Display competition or a Treasure Hunt which is run by the local church, which are good for local trade and something we will take part in as they do help to boost independent trade and morale.”
Your independent stance
“This year once again we have supported our local library by taking the ‘shop’ to their Community Fun Day, which happens in May and September. This event helps both the library and us. We support and donate to the library, while at the same time promoting the shop both physically and on social media. We are also booked to take the ‘shop’ to the local church and Spire Hospital in November and to Humber Rescue in December, our supported charity. All these events help to promote the shop while helping good causes.
As this year is our 5th Anniversary in the shop we initiated a number of promotions and events, such as a display of gifts reduced to £5 or £5 off. In addition, Robbie Mulhern, the rugby player who plays for Hull Kingston Rovers who we sponsor, came to the shop to meet, greet and sign autographs for customers, which caused a lot of interest and featured highly on social media both from the shop and the rugby club.”
If you had the ear of your council/government, what would you like to see happen to help indies?
“Hopefully I do have the ear of the local council at the moment. I have lots of problems with parking and I continuously complain to the council, however, they have just contacted me to say they are looking into the problem, so fingers crossed, but I will not get my hopes up. Luckily, our business rates were reduced last year which has really helped us and I am hoping that it will continue. It seems business rates and parking issues are the biggest problems for all small businesses, so in my opinion these are the issues that need addressing urgently.”
*This is part of a Viewpoints article which is published in full in the October edition of Progressive Greetings.
Top: Love Letters is fighting hard on parking issues.
