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BID issues rallying cry to back campaign’s call to government for support

BUSINESSES in Northampton are among more than 150,000 firms across the UK calling on the government to act on spiralling energy costs that they say are hitting harder than the pandemic.

The newly formed #BusinessSOS campaign, founded by organisations representing retail, leisure, hospitality and tourism businesses, says that the harm caused by the spiralling energy crisis has the potential to cause irreversible damage to UK high streets and the economy.

Mass closures and redundancies are inevitable if government does not swiftly implement measures that alleviate the critical pressures that businesses, like households, have been facing since April 2022, it says.

The campaign has unveiled its three-point plan on how ministers can throw businesses an economic lifeline:

Reduce VAT

  • Headline rate reduced from 20% to 12.5%
  • Business energy bills reduced from 20% to 5% to match domestic billing

Business Rates Relief

  • 100% rate relief until 31st March 2023

Energy Rate Relief

  • A discounted kwh price on all business energy bills

Mark Mullen pictured, operations manager of Northampton town centre BID said: “Energy prices are the most pressing concern for businesses, affecting the whole of the high street. Coming so soon after the Covid-19 pandemic, this could prove to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back so it is imperative the government acts swiftly and decisively by rolling out a package of appropriate measures to ensure the long-term future of our town centre.”

The #BusinessSOS campaign has been founded by Croydon Business Improvement District and hospiptality company Bart & Taylor with the support of the below organisations who collectively represent over 150,000 retail, leisure, hospitality and tourism businesses:

  • Association of Town and City Management
  • British BIDs
  • British Beer and Pub Association
  • The BID Foundation
  • Night Time Industries Association
  • UKHospitality
  • UKinbound

Matthew Sims, chief executive of Croydon BID, said: “The new Prime Minister has days to save the high street as we know it. To say the energy crisis is worse that the pandemic is not an understatement, it is the reality facing businesses today and why the clock is ticking for the new government to provide clarity and introduce measures providing tangible and immediate relief.”

Andrew Taylor, managing director of Bart & Taylor, added: “Without immediate intervention local communities will change forever as they lose their social spaces. For the first time in living memory, energy costs are now greater than rent and increasing on a daily basis in the absence of any intervention or price cap since April.

“After surviving the pandemic it seems ludicrous that the needs of businesses are currently not being heard and could see the billions of funding provided during the pandemic go to waste.”

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