The high street is well and truly dead when even charity shops are closing, writes James Hanson

And so while today’s news that the British Heart Foundation will close around 150 of its shops over the next two years is depressing, it is also entirely predictable. As the charity’s Chief Executive, Dr Charmaine Griffiths, acknowledges, the retail sector is currently facing “an exceptionally challenging trading environment”.

Much of this is down to longer-term trends - in particular the rise of online shopping - but it’s been made worse by anti-business government policy. It’s time for a concerted effort to save our high streets.

I grew up in a North Somerset commuter town called Nailsea, about 8 miles southwest of Bristol. We were blessed with a quintessential great British high street. Along a single stretch of a few hundred yards, you could buy just about everything you’d ever need. There was the pet store, the jewellers, a beauty salon, hairdressers for both men and women, a hardware store, an electrical store, the chemists, we even had a shop selling car parts. In between, we were spoiled with charity shops, cafes, pubs and takeaways. It was hardly Oxford Street, but it was an immense source of pride for our little town.

What you almost never saw was an empty unit, and on the odd occasion one would open up, it would be filled almost instantly. Sadly, these days, they are becoming more common - and who among us can be surprised? The major business rate revaluation that took effect in April has further increased costs for many high street premises. The additional burden will inevitably lead some businesses to cut jobs or even close altogether, especially for firms still managing pandemic-era debt. Shockingly, high street retailers are reported to pay a disproportionate share of overall business rates relative to their share of the wider economy.

Contending with unaffordable business rates alone would be bad enough, but Labour has compounded the problem since taking office. The party's disastrous decision in 2024 to hike employers’ national insurance contributions has added huge pressure on businesses, especially smaller firms.

Meanwhile, the rising cost of the minimum wage - now the highest in the G7 in absolute terms - has had a disproportionate effect on the retail and hospitality sectors, where a third of all minimum wage jobs are.

It’s hardly surprising that not a single member of Sir Keir Starmer’s current cabinet has run a business. They simply do not understand the realities of the commercial world.

When voters complain that Britain is broken, they often reference their local high street as visual evidence. Empty units are everywhere, and where shops are occupied, there is increasing suspicion that they’re simply fronts for money laundering, particularly barbers, vape shops, and mini-marts.

While it's true that we’re all partly to blame for the decline of our high streets, especially through our penchant for online shopping, we need a concerted government effort to revive local retail.

Rachel Reeves recently announced a temporary reduction in VAT for family attractions, such as theme parks, zoos and museums - but why not extend the same generosity to hospitality and retail? And why only a temporary cut? When the modern version of VAT was introduced in 1973, the rate was 10% for most goods and services - it’s now 20%.

Reducing the headline rate for all sectors, coupled with a reversal of the national insurance rise and reform of business rates, would go a long way to nursing the high street back to life. If we don’t, voters will continue to see empty high streets as a visual metaphor for broken Britain.

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Listen to James Hanson on LBC on weekends between 4 and 7am.

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