‘Working our fingers to the bone’: Can the UK save its struggling high streets?

London, United Kingdom – Taking the reins of a family business can be a source of immense pride, but it also comes with enormous pressures. When Surpreet Suri’s father started a photography business in Birmingham 40 years ago, his hard work paid off and he expanded to four locations around the city. Today, the family has just one shop, in a prime location in the city’s Kings Heath High Street.

But Suri is now considering relocating. The reason: It’s too expensive to continue the business there. When Suri moved the business to its current site, it gave it greater visibility – but also much higher running costs.

Despite having a loyal customer base, Suri says the financial rewards are increasingly difficult to find. Business rates are a property-based tax paid by businesses occupying commercial premises, although some smaller properties already qualify for relief. For Suri, however, rates are only part of the problem.

There is also the rent, VAT – a type of sales tax – wages, pensions, the rising cost of energy and specialist materials, which are all eating into his earnings. Refilling one of his professional printers with ink, he says, costs about 2,000 pounds ($2,664). King’s Heath high street faces the same challenges as many of Britain’s main commercial thoroughfares: a fight to remain relevant in an age where big businesses, higher taxes and online shopping are squeezing out independent retailers.

While small business owners on the high street face steeper costs, customers increasingly expect prices comparable to those online, even when they are paying for a specialist, personalised service. He understands that the cost-of-living crisis he is struggling with also affects his customers. The pressures on retailers come as many customers are feeling increasingly despondent about the state of their high streets.

Boarded-up shopfronts are a more common sight. Pawnbrokers, betting shops, vape outlets, charity stores and big-chain retailers have moved into high street locations that small business owners can no longer afford. Nearly 14 percent of high street retail units are estimated to be vacant.