زمرے: پریس ریلیز

Fed احتیاط سے "تجارتی کاروباری شرحوں: عبوری رپورٹ" کا خیرمقدم کرتا ہے۔“

The Federation of Independent Retailers (the Fed) has cautiously welcomed the “Transforming Business Rates: Interim Report”, which includes a number of apparently positive initiatives which could benefit the retail sector and will be of special interest to small independent shops.

These include measures changing the rates effect of opening a second property, changes to Transitional Relief, measures on Improvement relief when properties are enhanced as well as preparations for the merger of VOA and HMRC which could improve clarity of this currently very complex area of taxation.

The Fed’s National President Hetal Patel said: “Overall, the retail sector accounts for about 5% of the economy, but 20% of the Rates Bill and it is right that this area is subject to reform as our members face competition from online retailers based in out-of-town locations.

“Whilst the Fed welcomes the Chancellor and government’s focus in this area, we urge them to fully consider the importance of the retail sector – especially small independent shops, which are often at the heart of their communities and have rightly benefited from Rates Relief in the past.

“Many of our members had higher rates bills in April because of lost Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Relief in the last Budget and will await this year’s Budget and the Business Rates Revaluation – which will occur for the first time since 2023 – with concern.

“We are keen for the government to introduce new permanent retail, hospitality and leisure multipliers as low as possible from 2026, and to upwardly rate Small Business Rates for the very smallest businesses in line with inflation – but remain open to continued positive engagement in this area.”

تاخیر سے کیریج چارج کے جائزے سے پتہ چلتا ہے کہ Smiths News نے خبروں کے خوردہ فروشوں کو سنا ہے۔

Nearly 1,000 Fed members with lower newspaper and magazine sales are set to benefit from a reduction in their carriage charge from November 1, following an announcement today (Thursday, September 11) from Smiths News.

Historically, Smiths News reviews its carriage charge template in July, with any increases taking effect from September. But this summer, the news wholesaler advised that it was deferring its annual review until autumn, so discussions could take place with its retail customers and the Fed.

In a letter sent to its retail customers today, Smiths News commercial director Simon Gage said: “Our annual review has taken longer this year because we are acutely aware of the challenges faced by retailers. We want to ensure that any action we take is responsible and supports the profitability and longevity of the category in stores.

“The objective of this new template is to reduce costs for retailers who have smaller ranges and fewer sales, whilst still being fair and responsible to those customers with larger ranges and therefore higher sales.”

He added that the wholesaler would continue investing across warehousing, technology and final mile services to keep the supply chain as efficient and cost effective as possible.

While larger retailers will see an increase to their charge from November 1, this is well below inflation. Smiths News has advised that all increases will be capped at £6 per week.

Responding, the Fed’s National President Hetal Patel said: “Earlier this year, we were pleased to be told that Smiths News had decided to take longer than usual on its review of carriage charges to enable discussions to take place with its customers and with the Fed.

“This move has enabled Fed officials to have full and frank discussions about the challenges that members are facing. We are pleased that Smiths News has not just listened. but has acted upon some of the concerns that we raised. In particular, the news wholesaler is to be commended for taking action that will help to protect the viability and long-term future of smaller news stores.

“This is a good start. In future reviews, we would ask Smiths News to look in depth at the charges it levies on larger independent news retailers, especially those who offer HND.”

Deputy vice president Craig Etchells, who chairs the Fed’s news operations committee, added: “We hope that newspaper publishers will take note and will take the needs of news retailers into account before any future changes to their cover prices take effect.”