City centre retailers need more help, says NFRN after Scottish Budget

By Éilis Cronin in Industry News 14th December 2021

The NFRN has said that the Scottish government should have done more to help struggling city centre retailers in last week’s Budget.

Although it welcomed the maintenance of the Small Business Bonus scheme, the NFRN said that Covid restrictions were still hitting city centre retailers hard.

Ferhan Ashiq, the NFRN’s Scottish president, argued that business rates relief needed to be extended beyond the three months offered.

He said: “There are many city centre retailers who are still struggling because the covid restrictions are hampering footfall numbers.

“These retailers need and do require immediate, temporary relief. Three months in the current challenging climate is too short.”

Delivering last week’s Budget, finance secretary Kate Forbes announced that rates relief for the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors will continue at 50 per cent for the first three months of 2022-23, capped at £27,500 per ratepayer.

It is hoped that this measure will prevent a cliff edge for businesses in those sectors.

Small businesses with a rateable value of less than £15,000 will continue to pay no rates for the entirety of next year, irrespective of what sector they are in, through the Small Business Bonus Scheme.