Last week Retail NI and 23 business groups, chambers of commerce and business improvement districts (BIDS) all signed an open letter to the 90 MLAs and 18 Northern Ireland MPs on the huge implications of the recent UK Budget.
The coalition represent tens of thousands of businesses and workers in every local village, town and city and contribute billions of pounds to the economy.
The recent UK Budget has increased the cost of doing business crisis for local high street businesses to beyond crisis point. This has resulted in thousands of businesses facing an uncertain future, scaling up plans cancelled, and additional employment opportunities put on hold.
Small business owners in Northern Ireland are already struggling to pay the highest business rates in the UK. The decision by the Chancellor to add to this burden by increasing employers’ national insurance will have a negative impact on local jobs, the viability of small businesses and restrict the growth of our economy. This hike along with a 6.7% increase in the living wage is a huge cost for local small businesses to absorb.
Previously in England, small businesses received a 75% reduction in their rates to assist with the cost of doing business crisis. Despite the UK government giving Northern Ireland this funding as part of the Barnett consequential, local small businesses did not receive a single penny of reduction in their rates bills with the money going elsewhere in the Stormont Budget. Further to that, the local and regional non-domestic rates increased.
The Chancellor announced that the rates relief scheme would continue but at reduced rate of 40% relief for independent retailers and other high street businesses in England.
In our open letter the 24 business groups collectively call for the finance minister to use the Barnett consequential of this scheme to provide appropriate rates relief for high street businesses here, which will offset the national insurance increase and allow high street businesses to reinvest more of their money to create more jobs and boost our economy.
It is not unreasonable to argue for the same level of rates relief that small high street businesses receive in Brighton or Bolton, to apply equally to Ballymena, Banbridge and all our other local villages, towns and cities. The fundamental question is this - why should we accept Northern Ireland being treated so differently to other parts of the UK? Is there now a business rates border in the Irish Sea?
A further question also needs to be asked of the UK government. If economic growth is their top priority then why did they burden small businesses, the engine room of our economy, with such a regressive tax hike which will do the opposite?
Unless further rates relief and other reductions in the tax burden are given, we will not be able to secure the growth we need to provide more and better jobs and transform our economy and public services.
Political leaders in Westminster and Stormont need to get real and get to grips with severity of the cost of doing businesses crisis in Northern Ireland. Doing nothing is not an option and we don’t need tea and sympathy - we need action.
- Glyn Roberts is chief executive of Retail NI
