Luton BID backs Business SOS Campaign urging the Government to act on cost of living crisis

Businesses in Luton have joined forces with over 150,000 businesses from across the UK in a campaign to urge theGovernment to act on the spiralling energy costs.

The BusinessSOS campaign warns of mass closure and redundancies if immediate and effective action isn’t taken.Julia Horsman, Luton BID project manager, said: “This is such a worrying time for Luton town centre businesses, which is why we’rewholeheartedly backing the BusinessSOS campaign and the call for significant support to help businesses to survive the cost of livingcrisis.“The future looks bright for our town in the long term, with lots of investment as part of Luton Council’s 2040 vision and the Town CentreMasterplan, but Luton BID strongly believes that action needs to be taken now to ensure our businesses are still around to be a part ofall that.”She added: “We are really proud of the offering we have in the town centre, and especially the resilience local retailers, pubs, restaurants andbusinesses have shown over the last few years as they have bounced back post pandemic.

"We now need to do everything it takes to make sure they have enough support in place to navigate these new challenges, and we’re encouraging everyone to get involved in the campaign.”

The newly formed campaign, founded by organisations representing retail, leisure, hospitality and tourism businesses warns harm caused by the spiralling energy crisis is superseding the pandemic with the potential to cause irreversible damage to UK high streets and the economy.

It warns that mass closures and redundancies are inevitable if Government does not swiftly implement measures that alleviate the critical pressures that businesses, like households, have been facing since April 2022.

The campaign, backed by Luton BID ( Business Improvement District) has highlighted a three-point plan needed to support ailing businesses:

> Reduce VAT

Headline rate reduced from 20% to 12.5%

Business energy bills reduced from 20% to 5% to match domestic billing

> Business Rates Relief

100% rate relief until March 31, 2023

> Energy Rate Relief

A discounted kwh price on all business energy bills.