Nervous high street business owners say Rachel Reeves has made economic conditions the worst they\u2019ve been for a quarter of a century – as they wait to see whether she makes things even worse with today’s Budget. Pretty Market Harborough, in Leicestershire, is an affluent town and a sought-after location for many commuters seeking more home for their money outside London.<\/p>\n
The town\u2019s historic high street features the beautiful St Dionysius\u2019s Church, dating back to 1300, and a medieval timber-framed Old Grammar School which has stood there since 1614. It\u2019s not just homebuyers from the capital who have been attracted to settle in the town, national chains such as Lakeland, the White Company and Pret A Manger have opened here, leading some to dub the area \u201clittle London\u201d.<\/p>\n
But behind the beautiful surroundings, local business owners say shopper confidence is at an all-time low and proud independent retailers say they are facing the \u201chardest\u201d conditions they have ever faced thanks to Reeves<\/a>‘s handling of the economy.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve become tax collectors, if you think about all the things you pay to central government and local government, PAYE, National Insurance, VAT, rates, and I\u2019ve got my duty as well,\u201d said Duncan Murray, who runs Murray Wines. \u201cIt feels like Christmas trade is two weeks late [as worried shoppers stop spending in fear of what might come in the Budget].<\/p>\n \u201cWe are in our 24th year and this is the hardest it\u2019s ever been. The last Budget was painful for us, this has been the toughest year, all our guys have dropped hours, so the onus has been on myself and my wife to do more hours.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr Murray was hit hard by the Chancellor\u2019s decision to increase employer\u2019s contributions on National Insurance last year. He\u2019s also worried a Scrooge-like Treasury will increase duty on wine again despite the nation needing some cheer.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fear in the wine trade is it is going to go up again, as well as the staffing costs, it\u2019s troublesome times,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Fellow entrepreneur Jarrod Burke started his confectionary firm, Randalls UK<\/a>, 10 years ago when he was just 19. Now 29, Mr Burke said this was \u201cdefinitely the most nervous I have been in 10 years\u201d.<\/p>\n He added: \u201cLuckily, we are busier online but this started locally for us, just me in a shop\u2026 I am nervous, more so than I ever have been, during Covid<\/a> I wasn\u2019t really, and even after Covid I wasn\u2019t, but now feels more pressure.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the most nervous we have felt in the 10 years of the business, just for everything moving forward.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a retailer, Christmas is a time when you bulk up some money for the quiet months, that money for me feels like it\u2019s getting swallowed already.\u201d<\/p>\n Rajan Anand Chavda, 28, runs Anand Shoes<\/a> on the high street with his father Kailash, who started the firm nearly 30 years ago.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cMore people are repairing, so in a way we get busier, but we are seeing less money for the work.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are doing more repairs, more people are coming in because maybe they can\u2019t buy a new pair of shoes and need to get [an existing pair] repaired, but we are not really seeing anything from it, we are getting busier which is great, but when you crunch it down it\u2019s not more money in your pocket.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr Anand Chavda said previously the business was able to receive relief for business rates but that has now been cancelled.<\/p>\n He added: \u201cWe are a small business and the shop is quite small, before we were able to get rate relief and now we are paying rates which are a lot more, it is like another mortgage<\/a> in a way, which as a small business is a big hit.”<\/p>\n Paul Simpson is a local accountant who is also connected to the Chamber of Commerce. \u201cA lot of people were getting small business rates relief and now they are not, and the rates went up quite a lot from last year to this year\u2026 for example from \u00a31,200 to \u00a31,800,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of small businesses had not budgeted for paying the rates because they had small business rates and that was ingrained in the economy.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a fair number of public houses that are struggling, especially with the food side of it, because food is zero rated for VAT until they cook it and then they have massive VAT bills every quarter.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not seeing anyone go bust, but people are finding it hard, and from a Chamber of Commerce perspective, people are struggling, I don\u2019t know what the Chancellor is going to do, but it isn\u2019t going to be good news whatever it is.\u201d<\/p>\n