Scottish Retail Consortium joined by five major city organisations
THE Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) has been joined by five city Business Improvement Districts in calling on the Scottish Government to introduce a permanent business rate discount for all shopping, hospitality and leisure premises.
The plea comes ahead of the Holyrood budget on 13 January and in the wake of the UK budget, which gave similar outlets in England a permanent discount of 5p in the pound.
The five improvement districts cover Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Stirling.
In an open letter to MSPs, they wrote: “Our cities and towns are the backbone of regional economies and communities across Scotland. The everyday economy drives footfall and provides local and flexible jobs and career opportunities for hundreds of thousands of Scots.
“If the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors in Scotland miss out on a permanent dedicated business rate discount ,we fear this will have tangible consequences for our city and town centres.
“If locations such as these become less viable to trade profitably that will affect commercial investment and jobs and make economic recovery more challenging.”
The letter follows the New Year Message from SRC director David Lonsdale, in which he said: “The onus is on Finance Secretary Shona Robison to pull out all the stops and permanently discount business rates for all retailers in Scotland in her Budget on 13 January.
“If she fluffs the chance then Scotland’s high streets are likely to face the unwelcome consequences.”
He also highlighted the spiralling rate of crime against retailers but said Police Scotland’s new Retail Crime Taskforce, backed by one-year funding from the Scottish Government, appeared to be having a positive impact.
Looking ahead to this year, he said the retail industry would be keenly interested in the outcome of the Holyrood election and how it impacts economic growth.
Lonsdale added: “Growing the private sector economy must be the preeminent priority, with every measure seen through the lens of how it will aid the quest for growth and improve competitiveness.”
He also highlighted some major sporting opportunities for retailers to capitalise on, saying: “With football fans set to get behind Steve Clarke and the men’s Scotland team ahead of the World Cup finals next summer, retailers will hope this will kick-off a brighter period of trading for Scottish stores.
“Glasgow’s Commonwealth Games follows hot on its heels and this summer spectacle of major sporting events could provide a boon to retailers.”
The SRC director concluded his New Year Message by saying there were grounds for guarded optimism for 2026.
He said: “Scotland’s retailers have demonstrated their remarkable ingenuity and tenacity on multiple occasions during this decade and shown themselves to be a force for good in our communities.
“No matter what obstacles are thrown their way they will adapt and play a full part in driving forward Scotland’s economy whilst seeking to deliver on the industry’s vision of making Scotland the best place in the UK to grow a retail business.”
