Barrhead Travel Group president Jacqueline Dobson has called on the government to do more to support the high street amid fears of future business rate rises.
She told Travel Weekly’s Future of Travel Conference the UK’s high streets were currently being propped up by “travel agencies and charity shops”.
Dobson said reports that around one in seven retail outlets were empty at the start of the year highlighted the problem facing UK high streets.
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This summer the British Retail Consortium’s chief executive Helen Dickinson said Britain had lost 6,000 retail outlets in the last five years, blaming “crippling” business rates and Covid lockdowns for closures, with the North and Midlands having the highest number of empty storefronts.
Dobson echoed these concerns, saying: “The government needs to do more. It’s mainly travel agents and charity shops propping the high street up.”
She made the plea ahead of a UK government review of business rates in November, which would come into place on April 1, 2024.
Currently, businesses in England and Wales – but not Scotland – are entitled to rates relief. In England and Wales, retail, hospitality and leisure businesses are entitled to 75% off business rates, up to a cash cap limit of £110,000 per business.
Dobson said there was speculation rates could rise by 5%-6% next year, adding that rates could cost “just as much as rent”.
Citing recent high street failures such as budget retailer Wilko, she urged the government to consider ways of investing in and supporting the recovery of the high street to attract more businesses and customers back.