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JP launches campaign against "unfair tax"

Johnston Press has launched a company-wide campaign demanding the government launch an urgent review into the business rates system in England.

JP has teamed up with the British Independent Retailers Association (BIRA) to call for rates to be frozen until any such review has taken place.

The company says the system is an “unfair tax” which has been increased by nearly £700m in the past three years, leaving traders with the highest property tax bills in Europe.

An online petition has been set up which has garnered more than 500 signatures since its launch last week.

Ashley Highfield, chief executive of Johnston Press, said: “Supporting communities, and the small businesses within those communities, is at the heart of what we do.

“We pride ourselves on the long-standing relationships we have in so many cities, towns, villages and hamlets where we are the trusted provider of local news and information services.

“Small businesses are the lifeblood of their communities and this campaign is aimed at helping them to survive in an ever more challenging environment.

“We support any initiative aimed at ensuring a healthy future for the small businesses that are so important to our local audiences.”

The government had undertaken to review rates was due to carry out a revaluation in 2015 but this has been put back to 2017 .

A spokesman for BIRA said: “Business rates were designed for the retail world of 1990, but they need to work with for the realities of today and be made fit for 2020.

“Shops in towns pay several times per square foot what other ratepayers pay in other locations and the disadvantage is hampering small shops in their fight for survival.”

To sign the petition visit https://www.change.org/p/uk-government-launch-an-immediate-review-of-the-business-rates-system-in-england-freezing-rates-in-the-interim

12 comments

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  • November 7, 2014 at 11:11 am
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    “Supporting… small businesses in communities is at the heart of what we do.” What, like local newspapers, Highfield? Not done much to support them, have you.

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  • November 7, 2014 at 11:50 am
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    Astonishing. Is this the same JP that has removed thousands of jobs from local economies, in some cases replacing them with cheaper labour in the Indian sub continent? Is this the same JP which has closed down town centre offices, once a community hub, and sacked the friendly receptionists? Is this the same JP that actively shuns local businesses when it comes to maintenance jobs like plumbing, repairs, electrics etc, preferring to contract out to a cheaper, national bidder? Is this the same JP which has continually tried to whittle down the margins of its local lifeblood, the newsagents? Launching this campaign seems a cynical business exercise to create a database. Sign up, hand over your precious details, and next thing you know, an ad rep will be on the phone.

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  • November 7, 2014 at 1:25 pm
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    I guess local rags already starved of local news will have to run this drivel for weeks on end, despite it being of NO interest to readers at all. No editor, if there is one , will have the guts to refuse to run it.
    Has Highfield no sense of irony?
    Someone should tell the business leaders about JP’s contribution to the local economy. It has been truly startling.

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  • November 7, 2014 at 1:53 pm
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    This is rich coming from JP! They have deprived the treasury of millions in tax and national insurance by sacking staff and re-employing them on paltry shift rates. There must be some way of showing that they are using freelancers as staff but avoiding the responsibilities. The tax office should launch an investigation.

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  • November 7, 2014 at 4:24 pm
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    And who might be among those to benefit from this shake up of business rates if the campaign is successful – surely not JP itself!

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  • November 7, 2014 at 8:20 pm
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    Why should tax payers effectively subsidise the hopeless management of a newspaper and digital company that treats staff like slaves to be disposed of as and when required?

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  • November 9, 2014 at 6:51 pm
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    Given that this is a media focused site, the rage expressed here against JP is I suppose understandable, but if Highfield hadn’t layed off staff many more of those newspapers wouldn’t be in business at all. It’s not JP removing jobs from local economies – it’s people changing their habits and not buying newspapers or advertising in them – that’s what’s removing jobs.

    Evidently no one posting here has noticed that JP has been fighting for its existence for the past few years – no employer likes getting rid of staff. Redundancy happens for a reason and the clue is in the word. The newspaper world has changed.

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  • November 10, 2014 at 1:36 pm
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    Timperley… What planet are you living on?? Are you Ashley Highfield in disguise? JP over stretched themselves when they went on a buying spree just before the crash hit and were left heavily exposed and deep deep in debt. The cutbacks were due to that fact….nothing more. AH would have everyone believe that everyone is rushing to read their news online. That may be true for national news, but people want to read their local paper in print. I know of many thriving weekly local papers who still run their operations in the traditional way. JP are trying to spin the facts because AH is driving the digital crusade. Just because he’s passionate about it Dosent mean he’s right.

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  • November 10, 2014 at 5:37 pm
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    Just because you’re passionate mr angry2 doesn’t mean YOU’RE right either. Fact is that newspaper journalists are leaving the industry in droves because Timperley is right – the world has changed. You might know of a newspaper or two in a rural backwater that appears to be muddling through but it’s no secret that print is fading.

    JP’s buying spree just accelerated its problems – they’d still be laying people off because that’s what most newspapers are doing. And besides, they’ve got their debt to a manageable level for now.

    And as for AH’s digital crusade – what planet are you living on?? Did you write your comments on a postcard and send them in? I imagine you’re taking tablets rather than writing on them but you’re a dying breed and so are print journalists, which in the latter case is a bit of a shame. However we did get over the loss of typewriters, telex machines, printed encyclopedia, vinyl records….

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  • November 11, 2014 at 1:28 am
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    Most of the papers who are laying people off are the ones who are chasing the digital dragon. They aren’t making enough from digital to pay proper staff and they won’t either. You really can’t sufficiently monetise digital. Small local business doesn’t want to know. Someday the penny will drop but by then it will be too late. JP et all will ignore small local weekly advertisers at their peril. Ashley stop flogging the dead digital horse you only look stupid and pathetic.

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