Local shops ‘neglected’ by government as support only includes pubs

Local shops have condemned the government’s decision to limit additional rates support to pubs and music venues. A trade body called the decision short sighted and dismissive of the contribution of convenience stores to the economy.

The Association of Convenience Stores has called on the chancellor to go further than the support package announced for pubs and extend help to all local shops.

Labour – trying to get back into the pub

The government’s apparent generosity towards pubs comes as over a thousand venues have reportedly banned Labour MPs. This is after successive budgets from chancellor Rachel Reeves went down badly with small retail businesses.

In her rotten 2024 Budget, Reeves laughably claimed to be cutting a “penny off a pint in the pub”. As if landlords up and down the country would be replacing the nines on their chalkboards with eights. That claim fell flatter than a gone-off ale as critics said it was more likely that pints would go up by 30p or more due to other rising costs.

In the Budget at the end of 2025, the chancellor announced a new Retail, Hospitality and Leisure (RHL) multiplier for business rates that was 5p lower than the standard rate. This was despite the government legislating earlier in the year to be able to reduce the RHL multiplier by up to 20p.

At the same time, those retail, hospitality and leisure businesses have had to plan for the removal of the 40% Covid relief on their bills in April.

Tough times for local shops

As a result of the government’s changes to business rates, thousands of convenience stores, particularly those independently owned and operating on petrol forecourts, will see significant increases in their rates bills in the coming months.

Transitional relief will spread the impact of this significant increase in rates bills over three years. But this will still see local shops facing rising bills for the foreseeable future while other costs rise. Meanwhile, trading conditions are at their toughest for many years.

The Association of Convenience Stores has called on the government to affirm its support for local shops and other essential community businesses by extending additional support to all retailers before bills rise in April.

Association of Convenience Stores chief executive James Lowman said:

Local shops will feel neglected and dismissed by this Government today as they are passed over for additional support. For those facing rates increases in April of thousands of pounds, difficult decisions will have to be made about investment, employment opportunities and the services that are provided to customers.

The Chancellor has a chance to make this right and extend business rates support in the Spring Statement to all retail, hospitality and leisure businesses. Without additional support, jobs will be lost, inflation will rise as retailers look to claw back margin, and investment will be put on hold.

Since the Budget, ACS has campaigned for further support for local shops on rates. It has written to ministers outlining the importance of the convenience sector to both local communities and the UK economy.

The ACS Community Barometer survey of UK consumers has shown consistently over the last decade that people see convenience stores, Post Offices and pharmacies as the three most essential services in their community.

Featured image via the Canary