Britain’s biggest retailers have warned that hundreds of large shops could close and as many as 100,000 jobs be lost if the government presses ahead with plans to raise business rates on larger properties.
The proposed surcharge, aimed at funding discounts for smaller firms, could see supermarkets, department stores and other “anchor tenants” facing higher property tax bills, with potentially severe consequences for high streets and shopping centres.
The British Retail Consortium (BRC) estimates that 400 outlets could shut under the changes, which would apply to sites with a rateable value above £500,000. Retailers argue they would be forced to either close stores, cut jobs or pass on costs through higher prices in order to protect margins. They have urged chancellor Rachel Reeves to exempt the sector from the surcharge, warning that removing large retailers would undermine the wider retail ecosystem by depriving nearby cafes, pubs and independent shops of footfall.
Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the BRC, said: “Britain’s largest shops are magnets, pulling people into high streets, shopping centres and retail parks, supporting thousands of surrounding cafes, restaurants and smaller shops. After years of rising costs, far too many stores have disappeared—leaving behind empty shells that once thrived at the heart of our communities.”
The reforms are part of Labour’s wider plan to make the business rates system “fairer” and to address the so-called “cliff edges” that penalise smaller firms for expanding. Reeves said the government wanted to see “thriving high streets and small businesses investing in their future, not held back by outdated rules or strangled by red tape”. UKHospitality welcomed the move to ease the burden on hospitality businesses, but retailers insist shifting the costs onto larger outlets risks accelerating closures and weakening the high street further.