High Street Businesses

Matt Vickers Excerpts

Wednesday 26th February 2025 Westminster Hall

[Matt Vickers (Stockton West) (Con)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered Government support for high street business.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Desmond. High streets and town centres play a huge role in our communities. They are a place where people come together, they define our sense of place, they can be a source of local pride and they can be home to a huge number of jobs and opportunities. Retail is the largest private sector employer in the UK. When coupled with the hospitality sector, they are some of the biggest drivers of social mobility. There are endless stories of those who started as shelf stackers or pint pullers making it to the boardroom, with jobs that are accessible to all and where hard work can pay off. Then there are the small family businesses—the people-powered engine room of our economy, with individuals who dared to take the risk and have a punt, who get up early to drive their businesses forward, creating jobs while adding colour, flavour and vibrancy to our town centres.

In recent times the rise of online shopping and changing consumer habits, coupled with the cost of living, have created a challenging environment for many businesses operating on our high streets. It is for that reason that now more than ever we should back the great British high street. It is also why it is so astonishing that the Government’s Budget not only failed to back our high streets, but actually seems to be beating them into extinction. The national insurance tax raid, the slashing of small business rates relief and the ending of the community ownership fund will do irreparable damage to our high streets, and that is before we mention the impact and costs of the Employment Rights Bill.

In the last Parliament I campaigned for the 75% relief for leisure, hospitality and retail businesses. That was game changing for many, but with the stroke of a pen the Chancellor slashed that relief, ending the lifeline that was thrown to many employers. It is estimated that that will represent a 140% increase in business rates for more than 250,000 high street premises in England. The average shop will see business rates increase from £3,589 to £8,613. The average pub will see its business rates increase from £3,938 to £9,451, and the average restaurant will also see its bill rocket from £5,051 to £12,122. That is a huge cost for small businesses in an already challenging environment that will prove insurmountable for many. But it does not stop there.

The Government’s national insurance tax raid—their jobs tax—is doing exactly what everybody said it would do. Job losses in the retail sector are already mounting up. Tesco has announced plans to axe 400 jobs. New Look is expected to close as many as 91 stores.

[Wendy Morton (Aldridge-Brownhills) (Con)]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for bringing forward this debate. The point he makes is a really important one. He has mentioned New Look and Tesco. I think we have already heard comments from Marks and Spencer; HSBC is another group. We are hearing of job losses from some of those big high street names, but smaller businesses are affected as well. Does he agree that we cannot simply keep squeezing and squeezing businesses and thinking, “Well, they are making lots of profit; they can pass it on to their customers.” We squeeze them out of business, which means loss of jobs, loss of vibrancy on our high streets and loss of that sense of community that is so, so important.

[Matt Vickers]

As a former Woolies worker, I know only too well the consequences for businesses. Not only are we squeezing many businesses out of a future; there is a cost to be paid on the prices in those stores and costs on those jobs and the opportunities that they provide for young people and others to get on in life. There are huge costs to what has been done. We can only squeeze so far. The pips are definitely squeaking in retail.

Sainsbury’s has announced plans to axe 3,000 jobs. Retail and hospitality are already two of the most taxed businesses in our economy, but the sectors employ large numbers of people in entry-level or part-time roles, so are disproportionately hit. A CBI survey of business leaders found that 62% are slashing hiring plans. Almost half will be forced to lay off staff, and 46% are looking to delay pay rises for their workforce. Almost every Labour Government in history has left office with more people out of work than when they arrived. With these measures it looks like the Government are trying to set a record. All too often we see employment figures as numbers, but the jobs that will be lost as a result of this measure are not just numbers; they are families without the security of a pay packet, people stripped of ambitions, dreams and aspirations and left on the scrapheap.

The commercial director at the British Independent Retailers Association gave a realistic but depressing summary of what the Budget means for retailers. He said it was the

“Worst Budget for the high street in my 35 years working in retail”,

and that it showed a

“complete disregard for the thousands of…shop owners who form the backbone of our high streets. Small retailers, who have already endured years of challenging trading conditions, now face a perfect storm of crippling cost increases; their business rates will more than double…while they’re hit simultaneously with employer National Insurance increases.”

The outlook is bleak for traders because of the Budget, but it goes beyond that.

The previous Government sought to support high streets by responding to changing consumer habits and investing to reconfigure our town centres and create other reasons to go to them. Funds such as the community ownership fund allowed people to take back control of their community assets and turn around vacant, lifeless high streets. They were about more than a lick of paint. They were about creating valuable community spaces and restoring pride in our towns.

[Caroline Voaden (South Devon) (LD)]

Dena, a constituent of mine who runs a small high street business, is seriously concerned about the possible removal of small business rate relief. Does the hon. Member agree that a commitment from the Government about the future of rate relief would give reassurance to high street business owners like Dena?

[Matt Vickers]

The hon. Member is right. For many small businesses, the specific relief for leisure, hospitality and retail has already been slashed from 75% to 40%, the end consequence being a more than doubling of what they are paying. It is just not affordable for businesses that are struggling to carry on employing people and doing business, especially with the other challenges that come their way. It is simply not affordable. It is the wrong thing to do, and it has a cost for our communities and those employers.

As I said, funds such as the community ownership fund were not just about a lick of paint but turning around vacant and lifeless high streets, and they created community spaces that were valued, restoring pride in our towns. What is more, community-owned assets are estimated to contribute £220 million to the economy each year.

My constituency of Stockton West saw real progress under the last Government in taking our town centres forward. In Thornaby, the £23.9 million town deal we secured from the last Government has allowed us to achieve many things, including the creation of a new vocational training centre, security and energy interventions in some of the most challenging housing, upgrades to cycling infrastructure and much more. It is allowing us to build a new swimming pool in the town centre, which will drive footfall to businesses.

For years, Thornaby’s skyline was dominated by the eyesore that was the disused Golden Eagle hotel, but now, thanks to money from the last Government and following a long debate with the council, it is finally coming down. Those moves are game changing for Thornaby. They will drive further footfall to local businesses and restore pride in our town centre.

[John Lamont (Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) (Con)]

My hon. Friend is demonstrating what a great champion he is for Stockton West and why he has a reputation in this place for being one of the hardest-working MPs in Teesside. Does he agree that high streets are a lifeline for our local communities? In the Scottish Borders, I am fortunate to have a whole number of small and vibrant high streets, but their businesses are being hammered, not only by the Labour Government’s tax hikes through national insurance but the SNP Government’s tax hikes through business rates.

[Matt Vickers]

I could not agree more. Looking at the value of high streets, it is not just about businesses and jobs. They are places where people come together, and they can tackle isolation. There is also the feeling of pride in our town centres. Businesses only have so much money to give in tax, and it is going that bit too far now, to the point where we will lose businesses forever.

I will carry on my list of wonderful things that are going on in Stockton. In Yarm, levelling-up money from the last Government has meant that we are seeing nearby Preston Park improved and upgraded with new exhibition spaces. There are upgraded toilets, a café and more parking. We are sorting the disused aviary and creating a tribute to our railway heritage. This will drive visitor numbers to our area and complement the changes taking place in the high street, where we have seen the town’s skanky public toilets replaced. Streetscape interventions are planned to make the town centre more accessible, and we have gained a much-needed car park. The levelling-up money from the last Government has also helped the town council in Yarm to deliver on its ambition to renew our town hall, creating a visitor centre fit for the amazing high street that Yarm has.

In Stockton, £16 million of future high streets funding has allowed for the complete reconfiguration of our high street, also making way for our new £25 million diagnostic hospital. Securing the money for the diagnostic hospital remains my proudest contribution during my time as an MP, because I know the huge difference it will make to the people of Stockton. We ran a petition and gathered thousands of signatures to demonstrate public support. I was involved with the NHS trust and local authority officers drawing up the bid at its inception, and, when the bid was initially rejected due to a prolonged delivery timetable, I met the Secretary of State to hear his reasoning, and then, that same day, met directors from all the stakeholders to come back with a renewed timetable and a plan to unlock this investment.

In the very near future, the doors will open on that centre, which will provide 104,000 lifesaving tests, checks and scans to local people every year and, importantly, it will be yet another reason for would-be punters to come to our town centre and support local businesses.

Those interventions, funded by the last Government, are game-changing for my community and other communities across the country, repurposing our town centres to drive footfall and keep them as the vibrant hearts of our communities. But now the taps of governmental investment look to have been turned off: efforts to innovate and reconfigure town centres will be paused; our high street businesses are being battered by the Budget; and the consequences are there for all to see. Too many businesses are closing; too many jobs are being lost; and boarded-up high streets and town centres will eat away at the pride people can have in their communities and town centres.

I ask the Minister whether the Government really appreciate the challenges posed to high street businesses by the national insurance increase, and, similarly, the impact of slashing the business-rates relief for small leisure, hospitality and retail businesses. Will communities across the country ever again be able to benefit from the game-changing interventions brought about by the community ownership fund, the levelling-up funds, town deals, and other such funds, which allowed for those interventions to protect the future of our high streets?

As a former Woolworths worker, I could go on all day about the loss of iconic retailers, and about the impact of the Budget on post offices, on local pubs, and on opportunities for young people. And I will not even mention my Labour council’s ridiculous plans to introduce car parking charges in Yarm and Stockton high streets—I have probably said enough on that. I will leave it at that. Suffice it to say that I am a fan of the great British high street, and believe that securing its future should be a priority for any Government.

[Sir Desmond Swayne (in the Chair)]

We will start with an informal limit of five minutes.

--- Later in debate ---

[Chris McDonald (Stockton North) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Desmond. I thank my neighbour, the hon. Member for Stockton West (Matt Vickers) for securing the debate and particularly for devoting so much of his speech to outlining some of the achievements of our local Labour council in Stockton in developing our town centres.

Stockton is known for having the widest high street in Britain, but it is the breadth of the vision of our Labour council that I would really like to share with colleagues today, because I think there are some opportunities that might be of benefit to other areas. Labour councillor Nigel Cooke said many years ago that the future of the high street is about leisure, culture and recreation as much as it is about shops, and Stockton Council have put everything behind achieving that. The single biggest, most noticeable thing anyone will see on Stockton High Street—or will not see if they go today—is the former Castlegate shopping centre, which was demolished by the council to much local opposition. That resulted in a much higher rate of occupancy, up to 90%, at the other end of the street, but opened up for the first time in hundreds of years a vista across the high street to the river, the Cleveland hills and Roseberry Topping beyond, creating an urban park that will be the centre of events in the future. Stockton has turned itself into an event town, hosting many events on the high street and in the other towns in the borough throughout the year.

That has given us the opportunity to attract new businesses into the borough. Contrary to the usual doom and gloom about Stockton we hear from the hon. Member for Stockton West, I took the opportunity to talk to the Stockton business improvement district before coming here today, and it told me that three businesses this week are planning to open up on Stockton high street in the hospitality and leisure area. We have great entrepreneurs such as Nathan Lee, who has bought the Teesside Princess pleasure cruiser and who is fizzing with ideas for things that he wants to do to bring more footfall to our high street in that area. Remember Me Tearooms were sort of blocked in beside that terrible shopping centre and will now increase capacity so that they can serve people who are visiting the park. It is not only happening in Stockton town centre, but also in Norton, another lovely town in our area, which is a basis not only for the daytime but the night-time economy.

That brings me to safety. In our area, under the last Conservative Government, police officer numbers reduced by 550 compared with under the last Labour Government, but I made a commitment to have more officers on the street. With the £2.4 million we are getting from the Government, there will be 40 additional officers on the street.

[Matt Vickers]

Does the hon. Member know how much national insurance contributions are costing our police force, and the impact that they will have on police numbers in Cleveland?

[Chris McDonald]

As the police and crime commissioner for Cleveland said, the increase in national insurance contributions will not have an impact. In fact, overall there will be an increase of 40 police officers in Stockton.

[Matt Vickers]

Will the hon. Member give way?

[Chris McDonald]

I will not give way any more. The hon. Member might want to listen to what I have to say and intervene later. There will be an increase of 40 police officers, including some dedicated to the high street, so that people feel safe. They did not feel safe under the last Government; that was what drove people out of the high street. Civic enforcement patrols and police officers will ensure that people feel safe in Stockton. This Government have also ended the effective decriminalisation of shoplifting for items under £200. Rather than standing with shoplifters, we are standing with shop workers.

I think that every child who grows up in Billingham thinks that every town in the country has an ice rink, but they do not. There is one in Billingham, and the council has invested in Billingham Forum, where it is. The last Government left the residents of Billingham in the shameful condition of having been promised £20 million, but with no money there, and I thank the Government for coming forward with that funding, so that we can bring 10 derelict buildings back into use and create new commercial and retail space.

What about the future? The council is creating a health and care zone alongside our new diagnostic centre. It is not a hospital—it is a centre. Teesside is hoping to have a medical school there as well, so we will have medical students there. I am supporting and championing these initiatives. Quite shortly, Billingham will be the UK’s largest centre for biomanufacturing. I encourage all colleagues to come to Stockton for the Stockton and Darlington railway 200th anniversary this year, and we will welcome them to our town.