Leading authors, including Maggie O’Farrell and Philip Pullman, along with 200 booksellers, have written to Prime Minister Andy Burnham. They are urging him to implement emergency support and a business rates relief package for the UK's small bookshops.
The group contends that bookshops should receive the same urgent consideration as pubs and music venues, whose business rates bills Burnham vowed to reduce shortly after becoming Prime Minister. They stated, "Following the announcement of new relief for pubs, clubs and live music venues, we were deeply disappointed to learn that bookshops would not be included."
The Treasury has acknowledged the important role bookshops play in communities and on high streets. However, it states that bookshops already benefit from lower business rates multipliers and temporary caps on tax increases. The authors and booksellers claim that many independent bookshops are not eligible for full small business rates relief and that temporary reliefs are set to expire later this decade.
The Booksellers Association, which organised the campaign, projects that independent booksellers will face annual tax hikes of £4,563 by 2029/30. They also forecast that total business rates receipts paid by independent booksellers will increase by 35% to £5.65m by the end of the decade.
Author Adam Kay commented that while support for pubs and music venues is welcome, "bookshops are too, and right now they need the same helping hand."