The vital funding all our high streets dependent on

An FSB report into how the UK can achieve healthy high streets suggests Gloucestershire is ahead of the game, but it's also revealed a county propped up by millions of pounds of rate relief.

Dear Readers,

Welcome to Thursday’s edition.

Our single main story today was prompted by the just-published FSB report into the future of our high streets, a roadmap for how we can achieve vibrant, sustainable town and city centres.

It is a vision that puts independent businesses front and centre, and underlines how they are the ingredient vital to making our towns and city centres must-go destinations.

While it also pulls no punches describing how much work needs to be done, the positive is that, on reflection, Gloucestershire does appear to be in the leading pack - the partnerships forged and work of the likes of its Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) in Gloucester and Cheltenham, the Forest Economic Partnership, its chambers of commerce, local authorities, willing businesses and event organisers has aleady built much of the template the FSB maps out.

But one of the key points it makes is how tight the margins are for small independent businesses and how the survival of many depends on rate relief money dished out by local authorities to businesses.

When Raikes took a look at the figures it found a list of thousands of businesses across the county.

* As is the case with many of our Thursday and Friday main articles we have paywalled today’s story for the benefit of our paying members.

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The vital funding all our high streets dependent on

An FSB report into how the UK can achieve healthy high streets suggests Gloucestershire is ahead of the game, but it's also revealed a county where small businesses are propped up by millions of pounds of rate relief.

A new nationwide report into how the UK can achieve successful, thriving town and city centres has flagged a raft of measures we need to get right - and just how precarious a place it is for small businesses.

It is these many small businesses that the FSB report, The Future of The High Street, is most interested in and which it presents as key to achieving the Holy Grail of a sustainable and vibrant high street - describing them as a magic but endangered ingredient in a complicated mix.

But as Raikes read through a report that also outlines the mammoth scale of the challenge we were drawn particularly to the call for a doubling of small business rate relief for small businesses, from £12,000 to £24,000 a year - and closer investigation has revealed just how dependent Gloucestershire is on this funding to survive.

It turns out thousands of businesses from across the county count on what amounts to tens of millions of pounds of annual support from our local authorities in order to surive.

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* Everything you read on The Raikes Journal is made possible by our incredible Founding Partners: QuoLux, Willans LLP, Gloucestershire College, Merrell People and Randall & Payne, our sponsors Hartpury University and Hartpury College, our Founding Members and wonderful paying subscribers.

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