High Street Businesses

Wendy Morton 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.

--- Later in debate ---

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

It is a pleasure to have the opportunity to contribute to this debate on high street businesses, and I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Stockton West (Matt Vickers) again for securing it. He clearly demonstrates what a local champion he is for his constituency. I have visited Stockton on many occasions, and I have even been to Billingham and been on the ice rink—more than one or two years ago.

High streets are the beating heart of our communities. They provide jobs, essential services and a vital sense of place, but all too often small businesses feel that they are fighting an uphill battle—grappling with rising costs, declining footfall, an ever-changing retail landscape and, of course, Government policy. Many of those challenges are not new, but they have been fuelled by covid, the cost of living crisis and rising inflation. I increasingly hear from businesses in my constituency that more needs to be done.

In Aldridge-Brownhills, we are fortunate to have a vibrant network of independent businesses, many of them family-run shops and essential services that our residents rely on every day. One of these is The Plaice to Eat, which is the most fantastic local fish and chip shop in Brownhills. If hon. Members are passing, I recommend its battered chips, with are a local Black Country speciality.

[John Lamont]

My right hon. Friend is making an excellent speech. On behalf of Scottish Members, can I also recommend a deep-fried Mars bar supper and a haggis supper, which are other delicacies that fish and chip shops might be able to provide?

[Wendy Morton]

My hon. Friend reminds me of a visit to Scotland, many years ago, when I tried a deep-fried Mars bar; I think it was in Blairgowrie. I must admit that I have never had deep-fried haggis—I am not sure about that one—but I have certainly tried the Mars bar.

Despite their hard work and determination, many businesses are struggling. I am in regular contact with local businesses, and they tell me quite candidly about the financial pressures they face. One issue that comes up time and again is the crushing burden of employer national insurance contributions. Quite simply, they are a tax on jobs. They actively punish the very businesses we should be supporting. Businesses are being squeezed into cutting staff hours and freezing recruitment. In some cases, as we have heard, they are shutting their doors altogether. Household names that we have heard today—WHSmith, New Look and HSBC—are among those affected. When they are gone, they are gone forever.

Let us be clear: this is not just an economic issue; it is a community issue. When a high street business closes, that affects us all. It means fewer jobs, less investment in our local economy and empty shop fronts, which drain the vibrancy of our centres. The Government cannot claim to support small businesses while quietly taxing them out of existence.

In Brownhills, one of the most pressing concerns is the derelict Ravenscourt shopping precinct. Once a thriving hub, it has now become an eyesore and for far too long has attracted antisocial behaviour. Local business owners and residents are rightly frustrated by the slow progress. I am, too. My local council and our councillors are working incredibly hard to deliver on this, with plans for redevelopment including the prospect of a new supermarket, but delays, the need for a complex compulsory purchase order, and drawn-out negotiations over remaining units are stalling much-needed investment.

Such stagnation is not unique to Brownhills. Across the country, high streets are being held back by vacant buildings that discourage footfall and undermine local economies, and the increase in employer national insurance contributions only adds to the difficulties. If this Government are serious about revitalising our high streets, there are two things they could do to make a big difference to all our high streets: look again at both employer national insurance contributions and business rates.

[Sir Desmond Swayne (in the Chair)]

Josh Fenton-Glynn, you have two minutes.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Minister for Trade Policy and Economic Security (Mr Douglas Alexander)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Desmond. Before I respond to the debate on behalf of the Government, I should say that I am a proud member of the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers, a union that works tirelessly on behalf of its 360,000 members to negotiate better pay and conditions for shop workers throughout the country.

I thank all the many Members who participated in this worthwhile and timely debate, and pay tribute to each and every one who spoke compellingly about the high streets in their constituencies. I also pay tribute to the hon. Member for Stockton West (Matt Vickers) for securing the debate and thank him for speaking so eloquently—I particularly enjoyed his reference to the “skanky toilets”—in support of our high streets. He has shown considerable interest in this policy area for many years, not least as chair of the former all-party parliamentary group for the future of retail. It is fair to say that he has been a persistent champion of high streets, not just in his constituency, but across the country, so his insights and views are always welcome.

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Livingston (Gregor Poynton) for speaking so powerfully about the perpetual review roundabout that we see in Scotland in relation to planning and, alas, the Scottish Government’s approach to the high streets. I acknowledge the real, if temporary, cross-party consensus identified by the hon. Member for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk (John Lamont)—albeit that I am not sure there is quite as wide a culinary Caledonian consensus on the health and dietary benefits of the deep-fried Mars bar. I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Dr Pinkerton) and confirm that we share his ambition to improve safety on our high streets—an issue to which I shall return.

I also pay generous tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Stockton North (Chris McDonald). There is no stronger champion than he for Stockton and for the interests of its residents. I was intrigued to hear about the three businesses that are planning to open on Stockton high street. That is indeed welcome news, and I commend and congratulate my hon. Friend on bringing it to the attention of the House. He also raised the critical issue of policing and public safety—again, I shall return to that.

The right hon. Member for Aldridge-Brownhills (Wendy Morton) spoke about the fiscal measures announced in the Budget, to which I will also return, although I note that she offered no alternatives in the course of her speech. My hon. Friend the Member for Calder Valley (Josh Fenton-Glynn) added a perhaps necessary health warning about deep-fried Mars bars and spoke passionately about the Calder Valley businessmen and women who started with a dream and built a proud business community. There could be no more eloquent description of the experience of many entrepreneurs on high streets the length and breadth of the United Kingdom.

Reference to the whole of the United Kingdom brings me to the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon), who described his mother’s careful management of the family budget—an all-too-common concern during the cost of living crisis of recent years, after 14 years of Conservative economic mismanagement. Be assured, the Government want to ensure that businesses in every part of the United Kingdom—in Northern Ireland, in Scotland, in Wales and in England—benefit from measures that deliver economic stability and the Government’s mission of growth.

My hon. Friend the Member for Falkirk (Euan Stainbank), as both a proud Bairn and a self-described Falkirk boy, described where and how he spends his Saturday afternoons. I am not sure that every Member of the House would be wise to do that; none the less, it was helpful and educative for the rest of us to understand his commitment to the Falkirk community. He paid generous tribute to the hospitality workers in Falkirk and in communities and high streets the length and breadth of the country and highlighted the dangers they face. I concur that a new direction for Scotland is needed, not only in relation to our high streets, planning and retail crime, but much, much more fundamentally.

My hon. Friend the Member for Ilford South (Jas Athwal) spoke powerfully, and I noted his remarks carefully. The hon. Member for Torbay (Steve Darling) recognised a truth sadly missing from some of the other speeches when he acknowledged, candidly and rightly, that high streets have faced challenges for decades. These are constantly changing retail offerings that we need to recognise are subject to pressures far beyond the reach of individual Governments, but reflect changing patterns of life, of culture and of leisure.

The Opposition spokesman, the hon. Member for Mid Buckinghamshire (Greg Smith) spoke of high streets as the beating heart of our communities—on that at least we agree—before making a speech that omitted the fact that Liz Truss crashed the economy and left not only an impaired fiscal balance sheet, but a flatlining economy and devastated public services. Again, I waited with bated breath for the Conservatives’ official spokesman to offer their fiscal alternative, in the teeth of the criticism directed toward the Government—but alas, I waited in vain.

[Wendy Morton]

Will the Minister give way?

[Mr Alexander]

Time is against me. I want to address as many of the points raised today as I can, but before I do, I want to say a bit about the Government’s wider commitment to supporting our high streets.

Hon. Members in all parts of the House agree that high streets play a vital role in providing a place for communities to come together, to work, to socialise, to shop and to access essential services. The sectors that underpin the high streets play a huge role in our broader economy. The retail sector directly supports some 2.9 million jobs across the UK, and in 2023 generated £110 billion gross value added. The UK hospitality sector employs about 2.2 million people; it is estimated to have contributed about £52 billion GVA in 2023, and it remains a key driver of the UK’s tourism industry.

Let us be clear: high street businesses can prosper and grow only on firm foundations of economic stability—and that, alas, is certainly not what we inherited last July. Instead, we faced a £22 billion black hole created by the previous Government, featuring hundreds of unfunded pressures on public finances and countless uncosted measures that failed to withstand even the slightest scrutiny. The hon. Member for Stockton West spoke eloquently about his experience working for Woolies, but I respectfully point out that Woolies ceased to trade under a Conservative Government—a fact he omitted from his speech.

At the Budget, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor made some, frankly, very difficult choices, but decisions were necessary to fix the foundations of a broken economy—