Business rates cut could 'revitalise' town centres

Swaffham is one town centre in Norfolk that has received government money

Business leaders and traders are calling on the next government to cut business rates to help revitalise high streets in Norfolk.

Great Yarmouth town centre manager Jonathan Newman said the current level of taxes was "discouraging investment".

Labour has said it would overhaul the current rates system to help "level the playing field" for town centres against online rivals.

The Conservatives have said they would provide a "business rates support package" - and £20m each to 30 towns - in an expansion of its levelling-up policy, if re-elected.

Town centre manager Jonathan Newman in front of Great Yarmouth's new market building

Great Yarmouth has already benefitted from funding from the government, which has helped pay for a £5.2m market building.

A further £5.8m was promised last month to fund new paving, lighting, seating and trees around it.

And most of the money for the £17m redevelopment of the former Palmers department store also came from Whitehall.

Mr Newman said the investment had helped the town, but the "cost of living crisis, the interest rates, the entire economic situation has had a dire impact on retail in both town and city centres".

He added that there was "more to be done".

"I would like to see any new government tackle business rates - that’s discouraging investment in town centres," he said.

Great Yarmouth's regenerated market reopened last year

Market Gates Shopping Centre manager Nick Spencer also warned that the lower rates expected of out-of-town retail parks gave them an unfair advantage.

"If they want to make town centres viable and come back to life, the government needs to take it seriously.," he said.

Candy Richards, Federation of Small Businesses development manager for East Anglia, echoed the call for a rates cut.

"Business rates can be a huge disincentive for a small business to take up a position on the High Street," she said.

'Rateable value'

Business rates are a tax on properties used for commercial purposes, and are charged based on an estimate of what it would cost to rent the property on the open market, known as the "rateable value".

In their manifesto, the Conservatives have pledged a business rates support package worth £4.3bn over the next five years to support small businesses and the high street.

Labour has said that it will change the rates system, so that bricks and mortar businesses can better compete against the online giants.

Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats have said they would abolish business rates, and instead make landlords pay a levy on their buildings.

Hairdresser Andrew Baker said he thought the cost of business rates discouraged new businesses from opening

In Swaffham, hairdresser Andrew Baker said "taxes and rates" were the main issues for traders - and a change to the system would help attract new businesses.

"Having a rent review [would] allow smaller businesses to flourish rather than having to pay the majority of their profit to the government and be able to keep more of it to themselves, and therefore redistribute to the area where they live," he said.

Shop owner Julie Foley said online competition was "killing trade" in town centres

Swaffham has also had money from the government, receiving £380,000 in High Street Heritage Action Zone funding.

Julie Foley from tobacconist and vape shop Puff ‘N’ Stuff, welcomed the investment but said footfall had dropped in the town in recent years, with shoppers looking to Norwich and King’s Lynn - or the internet.

“[I’m] really worried, because without the footfall, none of the shops can survive," she said.

"A lot of sales are now online, it’s just killing communities.

"It’s really hard to see where you go from here because you feel like you’re fighting a losing battle."