#RaiseTheBar Campaign Update #1

Our campaign has a simple message for the Chancellor and Government -  amend the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant [RHLG] threshold from £51,000k to £150,000 to allow businesses within these sectors access to a £25,000 grant and stop tens of thousands of businesses across the UK going under.

Retail, hospitality and leisure businesses are some of the country’s most adaptable and the economy will need them to stave off the threat of cessation and revitalise our communities and the nation’s wellbeing.

These sectors are also vital to the UK economy and must be protected at all costs.

• The retail sector alone generated £394 billion worth of sales in 2019 employing over 2.9 million people across the UK
• The UK leisure sector has reached over £111 billion in sales employing over 663,000 people
• The UK hospitality sector employs over 3.2 million people - 11% of UK jobs, making it the third largest sector in the UK, accounting for £130 billion in revenue, 6% of all UK businesses and 5% GDP.

In total, the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors deliver a combined £635 billion to the national economy every year. As we approach a recession and economic upheaval, it is vital thee sectors are given the chance and tools to be resilient.

We acknowledge that by increasing the RHLG threshold up to and including £150,000 will increase the burden on central and local government. This is a price we believe is worth paying to ensure tens of thousands of businesses are supported to become part of the greater push to mobilise our economy, rather than leaving premises empty, growing unemployment and depleted high street and town centre communities.

The #RaiseTheBar campaign launched on Tuesday 21 April and it has now reached every part of the UK which demonstrates the need felt by business owners across the country for more help and support from the Government.

So what have we done…

On Tuesday 21 April, Croydon BID, supported by national industry and political leaders wrote a letter to the Secretary of State Rt. Hon. Alok Sharma MP, calling on the Government to change the rateable value threshold for grants from £51,000 to £150,000 for businesses in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors.

At the Prime Minister’s Question Time on Wednesday 22^nd April 2020, Lucy Powell MP (Manchester Central) raised the key question of the national #RaiseTheBar campaign and asked the First Secretary if he will extend cash grants and deliver a rescue package to stop thousands of hospitality, leisure and retail businesses from disappearing.

In the first ever virtual Prime Minister’s Question Time, Lucy Powell, Labour MP for Manchester Central since 2012, said,

“Nearly three-quarters of hospitality don’t qualify for the grants and, for most, loans just aren’t an option. Given that the hospitality and the retail sector are the lifeblood of our high streets, and are likely to face the longest government-enforced closure, will he extend cash grants and come up with a rescue package to stop thousands of pubs, restaurants, shops and venues from disappearing altogether?”

The First Secretary’s reassuring response was that he agreed with her in regard to the challenge we have and said that they [the Government] want to ensure that all of these businesses can bounce back. The First Secretary mentioned the tax deferrals and other measures that have already been announced, but said that he will see if the chancellor can do anything else. He spoke about the need and wish to look after all small businesses and industry sectors. ​

Business Improvement Districts are playing a significant role across the UK to mobilise support within their business networks with over 100 BIDs now signed up to support the cause alongside the BID Foundation, British BIDs and Association of Town and City Management.

We are seeing a real groundswell of activity in support of the #RaiseTheBar campaign from across all parts of the UK with businesses as our national petition gains greater support. In 60 seconds, we can help save our nations high streets and communities by signing this simple petition. Join us, sign and share the petition https://bit.ly/2xJ61fB.

We have encouraged BID companies to adopt our #RaiseTheBar toolkit and to lobby their local MPs, media, local councils, councillors so that political pressure can be applied from across the UK, converging on Parliament. We are seeing a huge escalation of the momentum for our campaign with a greater number of media stories in national, trade and regional outlets enabling our simple message to reach new audiences.

You have all been sent the toolkit with a number of requests including case studies. Please consider local businesses and members whereby this initiative will really offer value and support. Please also consider the celebrities local to you to see whether endorsements can be achieved across the UK. 

To take the campaign to the next level, we have appointed communications consultants Kallaway. Their mission is simple: To make their clients more successful – we have every faith they will deliver for all of us in developing #RaiseTheBar so we can all succeed together. They specialise in delivering intelligent and creative thinking that delivers measurable and effective campaigns which excite and inspire people into action. We are now entering the next phase of the campaign, so watch this space. To find out more, contact Katie Blake on 07827812813 or raisethebar@kallaway.com.

You are all campaigners for #RaiseTheBar. We all have an equal stake in this, so together, we can really make a difference.

Please forward this email on to anyone you think can help or would be interested to hear about the campaign and cc Matthew.Sims@croydonbid.com so we can add them to our database to receive our campaign updates.

Our supporters so far include:

UK Hospitality

Greater London Authority – Amy Lame, Night Czar

BID Foundation

Association of Town & City Management

British BIDs

British Beer and Pub Association

Music Venue Trust

Night Time Industries Association

Association of Convenience Stores

Croydon Council

London Chamber of Commerce

Over 100 BIDs including: