New Business Retail Shop

lincroft1710

bris wrote: »

It's not easy out in the high st just now, it's going to get harder before it gets better too.

Does anyone else think that with competition from online and out of town, the High St won't ever get any better.

texranger

lincroft1710 wrote: »

Does anyone else think that with competition from online and out of town, the High St won't ever get any better.

high streets are dead trading areas now.

just think several years ago, you wanted a TV you went on the high street to somewhere like currys, but now you go for your weekly shop to tesco, pick up your loaf of bread and your litre of milk oh and the 42" HD ready TV, so no need to go on high street now.

pitkin2020

lincroft1710 wrote: »

Does anyone else think that with competition from online and out of town, the High St won't ever get any better.

I agree with texranger the high street is dying out. The problem is more generic shops are pulling out of the high streets and favour online trading. High street shop rates are incredibly high for the amount of floor space you get. You could have a warehouse 4 times the size and cover all the costs for online trading and it will still (usually) work out cheaper than high street rates.

The supermarkets are also stepping in and taking a huge chunk of the high street trade away. Its mad how much stuff the likes of Tesco do now. As tex said before when you wanted clothes, TV's, radios, mobile phones, etc you would down town now you can get it all from Tescos. Our local tesco even has a pharmacy and an optician and we are only a small town I expect city tescos go even further.

Personally I rarely go into town as there is very little there I can't get online or buy out of town or supermarkets and I don't have to pay for parking and sit in traffic going and out of the town centre.

Yet again though the government make these promises to help new businesses etc but they cripple the consumer which has a major impact on any business. They cut local council funding so they charge more for rates, parking, refuse collection etc, they increase fuel duty which costs the business more to get their stock it also costs the consumer more to get to the shops so they think twice. All those additional costs make the general high street shop uncompetitive when matched with an online retailer.

texranger

i used to travel from Northumberland to Manchester once a week to wholesalers to stock up on my toys, now i found a wholesaler on the isle of wight £6.99 next day delivery that can supply stock i know sells, so its just a few clicks on the keyboard and not stuck in traffic jams and having to set off at 5 am in the morning drive 4 hrs to manchester and then drive 4 hrs back and spending a small fortune on fuel

texranger

our woolworths store is still sitting their empy (this is ther size of 4 std shop units) with a 1st floor. we lost our currys last year also harveys furniture closed down 3 years ago, 3/4 of their shop has just opened as a powerhouse store. also our ethal austin store is now a poundland (opening within 2 weeks).
we have plenty empty stores, but their again come to our town if you need a charity shop (35), a holiday (6) or greeting card (7)

pitkin2020

texranger wrote: »

our woolworths store is still sitting their empy (this is ther size of 4 std shop units) with a 1st floor. we lost our currys last year also harveys furniture closed down 3 years ago, 3/4 of their shop has just opened as a powerhouse store. also our ethal austin store is now a poundland (opening within 2 weeks).
we have plenty empty stores, but their again come to our town if you need a charity shop (35), a holiday (6) or greeting card (7)

what no bookies lol, kind of reminds me of ilfracombe it has a couple of small supermarkets, several dozen newsagents, a shed load of bookies, pubs and charity shops and thats just a small seaside town.

texranger

pitkin2020 wrote: »

what no bookies lol,

forgot them we have 3 a willhill, lads and a local ind that i think was their when noah build the ark.

Savvy_Sue

Pennywise wrote: »

Whilst a small shop may currently be eligible for small business rate relief, it is temporary, and sooner or later, will be taken away, leaving you with a bill of several hundred pounds at the very least for the smallest of shops, and more likely a thousand or two for an average sized small shop. By all means regard not paying it as a "bonus" for the first year or so, but you do have to provide for it in your forecasts for year 2 onwards.

What Pennywise is saying, I think, is that Small Biz Rates Relief does not mean you don't have to pay the rates. It means you put off paying the rates for a year or so.

Now, if we all peer into our crystal balls and agree that in a year or two things will be better than ever, this would be a sensible option. And if you're in a position to put the amount needed for your Small Biz Rates into an interest bearing account (like an ISA, via drawings), then that could also be a sensible option.

But the alternative is that when the time comes to pay your deferred Small Biz Rates, you haven't got the money because things have NOT got better and you didn't have the money spare to set aside.

So I'd say only do this if your accountant advises that it's a really good idea, and NOT just because you're struggling to find the money for rates!

heretolearn_2

Hi Savvy , you are normally spot on but not quite there with this one.

Small business rates relief does not have to be repaid. It's a true discount off your rates bill, not a deferment.

Transitional rates relief is the one that is a deferment that has to be paid back in future.

However, small business rates relief should not be built in to any business plans from now on as I suspect the scheme will come to an end soon. It should have ended in Sept 2011 but was extended for another period, but who knows what will happen in future.

If you are a small business, then plan on the basis of paying full rates (then if it you get the relief, it's a bonus).

Savvy_Sue

heretolearn wrote: »

Hi Sar-el, you are normally spot on but not quite there with this one.

She's usually spot on as well, but it wasn't her this time!

heretolearn wrote: »

Small business rates relief does not have to be repaid. It's a true discount off your rates bill, not a deferment.

Transitional rates relief is the one that is a deferment that has to be paid back in future.

Ah, apologies, to you and to Pennywise! We get a charity discount on our rates, and were also made aware of the transitional thing, so I should have worked out that they were two separate schemes.