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Mayor Plans More Affordable Retail Units
Mayor of London Boris Johnson has set out proposals to support small retailers and ensure a “diverse and dynamic” retail sector across the capital.
Earlier today the Mayor chaired his first business summit at City Hall which was attended by representatives from across London’s business community and outlined plans to change the London Plan to ensure more affordable retail units are provided for in new retail developments.
The Mayor’s plans include enabling planners to use section 106 agreements to require developers to make provision for affordable small shop units in major retail schemes.
Johnson said “small shops add real character and diversity to the Capital’s high streets but they are finding themselves squeezed out by competition from supermarkets and rising unsustainable rents.”
“My proposals aim to help reverse this trend, offering small retailers the opportunity to make a success of their enterprise both by making more suitable premises available and taking steps to level the playing field by securing affordable rents.”
The plans have been supported by Stephen Alambritis of the Federation of Small Business who commented: “New retail developments will always be springing up in London. The key is to ensure that small businesses are part and parcel of those shopping sites. By emphasizing the need for suitable premises and affordable rents Boris Johnson is definitely travelling in the right direction.”
A copy of the Mayor’s plans - Planning for a Better London - can be downloaded from london.gov.uk
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This idea of cheaper rents for some businesses is either well meaning or an intentional diversion from the realities of “small business”. And from the fact that the Mayor can do very little. It is also a red herring and potentially really counter-productive. Who qualifies? A small business which does not qualify and operates nearby offering the same goods already could find itself undercut in the market. Unless you actually run a small business yourself, it is easy to see these type of state interventions as a ‘good thing’. In reality what small business wants is that genuine level playing field with large business in certain aspects of trading which have recently been loaded in the favour of big business. The vast quantity of rules and regulations (mostly coming down through the EU and rubberstamped by Parliament which has no real say) impact more heavily on small business than on large ones. Indeed large businesses spend vast amounts of money lobbying the EU to actually introduce restrictive Directives with a not-so-hidden agenda of sweeping away those inconvenient small operators.
What really messes up small businesses are also things like parking regulations which can destroy margins literally overnight when introduced, ever increasing business rates and amenities well above the rate of inflation, and petty regulations which destroy the unique nature of shopping at a small retailer. And never mind the upwards only rent reviews. I know all this from both personal experience and also from those of a large number of associates. What frustrates most is this type of half-baked official response through either “small business advice” (’we’re here to help you by telling you what you already know, at great cost’, groan) or these initiatives which will actually damage yet more of us while allowing politicians to say “we’re doing something” - just get off our backs is the real cry, but of course no one will listen to that. Because they are powerles to deliver. And frankly the small business organisations seem to be losing the plot and buying into the politicians’ make believe world. Rant over.