In my recent Parliamentary debate on ‘ The Future of British Retail’ I took the opportunity to praise the work of the retail industry, nationally and in Watford, and the work it does in contributing to local and national economies and employing and training so many young people.
In a speech to other MPs and Business Minister Michael Fallon, I highlighted the need to support the industry as it changes to adapt new technologies and ways of shopping and pressed the need to support existing retailers through the lowering of business rates and other measures to help shop owners expand their businesses.
Watford has a strong retail industry employing over 5,000 people in the town centre alone and the tenants at the ‘Intu’ shopping centre pay over £14 million in business rates each year. The last few years have not been easy for the High Street and many big names have had to close and in my debate I called on the Government to provide more support for these companies. Ministers are currently looking into the points raised in my debate and will report back shortly.