Latest news with #BritishIndependentRetailersAssociation
ITV News
a day ago
- ITV News
Kent shopkeeper shames shoplifters online in bid to reduce thefts
A shopkeeper in Kent has come up with an unusual way of stopping thefts from his convenience store. Suki Athwal posts CCTV footage of alleged offenders on social media to publicly shame them and he says a surprising number of them come back and pay. Shop theft is running at record levels, and there are calls for tougher penalties for those who are caught. Kent Police say they take retail crime very seriously and are urging traders to report all offences to them rather than posting information online. Mr Athwal's family have run the Shop Around The Clock convenience store in Tenterden for the last 35 years but recently they've been dismayed by the number of customers who take goods off the shelves and leave without paying. He is now posting CCTV footage of alleged offenders on Facebook. Mr Athwal said: "We just started clipping up videos of when people have stolen from us and posted it online. "I try to make it a bit of joke around it because I think we need to turn the negative into a positive. "We've found now that people are starting to come back to us to pay or their family comes back as they've seen their relative online and they're a bit ashamed and disappointed in them - and that's when I take the post down and that's starting to work for us." Some shopkeepers say they've stopped reporting thefts because nothing happens but Kent Police say they take the crime very seriously. "We've got more officers out on the beat, in town centers, in neighbourhoods. Every ward in Kent has a dedicated, named officer who can be contacted via the Kent Police website. "We engage regularly with local businesses and key partners and stakeholders to understand what their concerns are, particularly around retail crime which is a real priority as a force and organisation so I think we're doing a great deal to try and get out there, be visible, prevent crime and when a crime is reported, do our very best to investigate it thoroughly." Suki Athwal says shop theft has become more of a problem since the cost of living crisis. But this is not a victimless crime. The British Independent Retailers Association says shoplifting is spiralling out of control, costing traders and customers £2.2 billion pounds a year. Last year's figures were the worst on record.
BBC News
27-03-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Hitchin High Street businesses speak of Budget pressures
Businesses on a Hertfordshire High Street tell the BBC they are struggling to cope, with extra costs from the chancellor's October Budget coming into force in days. The government says its "once-in-a-Parliament" Budget allowed it to wipe the slate clean and focus on new business opportunities, so what are the concerns and how is the High Street adapting to more change?Last year's Budget saw employers bear the brunt of £40bn in tax rises - the biggest increase in a days from the changes taking effect, retail and hospitality firms in the market town of Hitchin say they are facing thousands of pounds in rising costs. Some of the key changes that are increasing costs for small businesses from this April include: Companies to pay National Insurance (NI) at 15% on salaries above £5,000 from April, up from 13.8% on salaries above £9,100The legal minimum wage for over-21s to rise from £11.44 to £12.21 per hourThe rate for 18 to 20-year-olds to go up from £8.60 to £10, as part of a long-term plan to move towards a "single adult rate"75% relief on business rates, put in place during the pandemic, being reduced to 40%.To offset the rises, the government announced an increase to businesses' employment allowance, which allows smaller companies to reduce their NI liability. One of the stalwarts of Hitchin's High Street is Gatwards, which is the oldest family jeweller in the UK. It has been in business for 265 years, but Charlotte McCrossin, the current manager and eighth generation of the family to run it, believes times are now as tough as they have ever been. "Footfall is down much worse actually since the Budget because there is no confidence now - consumers are worried," she says. On the Budget changes, she adds: "I don't know where we're supposed to find all this money."We got the business rates bill for the year - that's gone up by seven-and-a-half thousand pounds."There's the higher National Insurance. It's not so much the NI going up, it's more the slashing of the thresholds, so it's going to bring more people into NI." Hospitality businesses are also under pressure. Tom Weller co-owns a gastro pub and a cafe in the town. He employs 35 people. "We've already seen, with the national minimum wage increases from last year, a £40,000 uplift in our payroll costs - we're expecting to see a similar amount this year," he says he has no choice but to pass these higher costs on to his customers in the form of price rises. "We've put prices up by approximately 5% already last year and we're planning a 5-10% increase this year as well."There's literally nothing else we can do. If we didn't do it, we'd just be losing money every month and then eventually we'd have to close." Up and down the UK, the state of many town and city centres is a cause for concern. About 27,000 shops closed in 2023, according to the British Independent Retailers Association, of which 7,800 were independently owned. The Federation of Small Businesses says it is a time of uncertainty for many small Austin, who represents Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire, says: "It has made people put off hiring new people, they're not growing, they're embracing technology rather than taking on potentially new staff, or they're retraining or changing perhaps their opening hours so they can cut costs in other ways." It is something Hitchin's town centre manager Tom Hardy fears. "I do see that our High Street - or the majority of it - could disappear over the next five to 10 years," he believes more support is needed. "If we don't put things in place to make it worth a business's while having a bricks and mortar shop, they'll all go online and we'll have ghost towns."It is a sentiment echoed by the British Retail Consortium. Director of insight, Kris Hamer, says: "High Streets have struggled with many headwinds in recent years. The government needs to do more to recognise the economic and social value thriving High Streets bring to communities." A spokesperson from the Treasury, says: "We are a pro-business government determined to improve the total business environment, and have already achieved a great deal in a short period of time."This includes protecting the smallest businesses from the employer National Insurance rise and late payments, and capping corporation tax. "We delivered a once-in-a-Parliament Budget to wipe the slate clean and without our action, business rates relief for retail, hospitality and leisure would have ended completely in April this year." Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
The Guardian
12-02-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Beales to close last store, blaming costs ‘foisted on us' in Reeves's budget
The department store chain Beales is to close its last remaining shop, in Poole, for the second time as it blamed rising costs linked to Rachel Reeves's budget for a failed rescue attempt. The 144-year-old retail institution, which first opened its doors in Bournemouth in 1881, collapsed into administration in January 2020, leading to the closure of all its 22 stores. The store in Poole, on the south coast of England, reopened under new ownership later that year, followed by two other outlets – in Peterborough and Southport – which later closed in 2023 and last September respectively. Tony Brown, the chief executive and majority owner of the revived Beales, said he was closing the final outlet in Poole in May because of the 'additional costs being foisted on us'. In October, Reeves announced an increase to employers' national insurance contributions, the rise in the legal minimum wage and a reduction in business rates relief from April. Brown said these changes not only directly affected Beales' own costs but suppliers facing higher labour costs had pushed up prices, too. Brown said the Poole store, which employs 25 people, could have broken even this year but the additional costs were 'the last nail in the coffin'. The chain had already been lossmaking since its revival in 2020, before the changes announced in Reeves's budget. 'It is not a secret that large department stores are very expensive to run and difficult to keep going,' he said. 'We are a microcosm of what is going on across retail. If you are not a big business, you can't absorb those costs.' He said Beales would continue to trade online. Jeff Moody, the commercial director of the British Independent Retailers Association, said: 'The closure of Beales is, tragically, unlikely to be an isolated incident. With the reduction in business rates relief from 75% to 40% set for April 2025, alongside these other tax increases, many of our members are facing impossible decisions about their future. 'This is a critical moment for British retail, and we urgently need policymakers to recognise the devastating impact their decisions are having on our high streets.' The closure of Beales' final store comes after a tough period for department stores. House of Fraser has closed at least 30 branches since 2018, including the historic Jolly's in Bath in December, and Debenhams disappeared from the high street in 2021. John Lewis has also closed 16 department stores since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, cutting the size of the chain to 36. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion The independent group that owns Morleys in Tooting and Brixton, and Selbys in Islington plans to close its Tooting branch this spring. Department stores are expected to come under further pressure from planned changes in business rates under which large stores with a rateable value of more than £500,000 will pay more from April next year. The changes will lower rates for those operating from smaller, cheaper premises. The retail industry has warned of potentially thousands of job cuts this year after a poor Christmas and with higher taxes on the way.
