ethical partnership is a member of the federation of small businesses (fsb)and are concerned to ensure that our colleagues in the retail sector are supported wherever possible – we’ll advice on planning issues as well! In this short article we describe what support the Coalition Government has recently been made available for shop owners and operators in what are now being called ‘local shop parades’;
- Struggling and thinking of closing your shop or business? Well the Community Right to Bid now allows local people to step in to buy and operate your shop/unit! An exciting new opportunity perhaps!
- Excellent news is that there is Doubled small business rate relief from £6,000 to £12,000 for two and a half years and will be available to half a million firms – the average tax benefit is around £1650. Inflation increases on bills can be spread over three years;
- You need to talk to your local councillor as Councils can offer extra business rate discounts that can now be targetted to towards local shop parades as a result of the Localism Act.
- owners of shops in l;cal parades can participate in their Neighbourhood planning forum which gives communities control over how their areas develop – if you need advice on how to set this up and what the benefits are then drop us a line and we’ll explain what’s involved. Neighbourhood planning can make the sure the local shops are factored into the future development and benefit from simplified planning like change of use rules; and
- A multi-million Community Action Against Crime Innovation Fund is helping local groups and communities to tackle local crime problems
- A £200 million growth Accelerator fund to help up to 26,000 English small businesses!
- A £82.5 million Start Up Loan scheme so 18-24 year old can get loans up to £2,500, with a repayment period of up to five years, to support and training to start a business;
- And if you’re involved in markets then the National Markets Day and National Markets Fortnight in June is aimed at celebrating the role markets can play and offer local shops the chance to showcase their produce or business ideas;
- FSB members may want to look at the £500,000 fund for Business Improvement Districts that is now available to help town centres access loans for their set-up costs.
And if you have a vacant shop or unit there is more support from the Coalition Government to get it into temporary use – interested? Drop us a line for more information and to find out the support we can offer.
Allen Creedy