SLP Column Small Businesses – 13/12/24

Last Saturday, I spent the day in Blackheath Village in my constituency of Lewisham North meeting with small business owners as a part of Small Business Saturday.

I am proud to represent a constituency which has so many fantastic independent businesses, but there’s no doubt that small businesses and high streets across the country have suffered over the last 14 years. A combination of economic instability, high inflation and short-term political thinking have left small businesses in the lurch with little support.

The Centre for Retail Research estimates that more than 10,000 shops closed down in 2023, and the British Retail consortium estimates that Britain lost 6,000 retail outlets over the last five years, leading to widespread store-front vacancies on high streets.

This hostile environment for small businesses has been compounded by record-high levels of shoplifting, with a 29% spike in shoplifting incidents – almost 1,300 per day – and only 17% of shoplifters being charged.

To say our high streets were ignored by the Conservatives would be understatement. They were actively failed by a party which put their own interests first, ahead of small businesses. This didn’t just hurt our economy and local business owners – it damaged our communities and impacted the role our towns and cities play as a source of pride.

This Labour Government has made rejuvenating our high streets and supporting small businesses a priority.

Thanks to the Autumn Budget, thousands of small businesses have been exempted from paying any employer National Insurance contributions, and there has been a permanent cut to business rates for shops, pubs and restaurants from 2026 to level the playing field between the high street and the online giants. The Budget also provided £250 million to the British Business Bank’s small business loans programmes, so small businesses can access the funds they need to grow and succeed.

The Government have introduced new Respect Orders to give police and councils the powers they need to crack down on repeated anti-social behaviour in our town centres and have scrapped Conservative legislation which prevented investigating the shoplifting of goods worth less than £200, so that all businesses are protected from shoplifting and anti-social behaviour.

Labour wants to kickstart our economic growth and make the UK the best place to start and grow a business in the world. That begins with supporting the backbone of our economy – the small businesses on our high streets.