[Wera Hobhouse MP with Arron Collins-Thomas, owner of TONIQ.]
On the day when we hear the sad news of the closure – early next year- of Jolly’s Department Store, our local MP has called on the government to scrap their “misguided” hike in employers’ NICs for local small businesses.
This comes as recent polling by the Party has revealed that 43% in the South West expect further local businesses to close as a result.
The polling also revealed that 59% of people in the South West expect prices to increase in local small businesses due to the NICs hike and 48% expect the number of jobs available at these companies to fall.
Wera Hobhouse – the city’s Lib-Dem MP – said that the government needed to “urgently rethink” their NICs hike and scrap it for local small businesses in Bath.
On Small Business Saturday, last weekend, Mrs Hobhouse visited a local independent gym, TONIQ, and Boston Tea Party’s cafe in Kingsmead Square, where she heard from the owners about the impact of the NICs hike on their businesses.
She said:
“Small businesses in Bath are the backbone of our community; they make such a wonderful and vital contribution to our high streets.
“But these figures lay bare just how damaging the government’s misguided decision to raise employers’ NICs could be for them. I’ve heard from many local owners who are worried about the enormous strain their business will face as a result.
“I will fight to ensure they can continue providing their great services to our community by pushing the government to rethink and scrap their NICs rise. It’s time the government supported small businesses, rather than made life even harder for them.”
The polling can be found here. Methodology: Savanta interviewed 2,208 UK adults aged 18+ online between 29th November and 2nd December 2024. Data were weighted to be representative of the UK by age, sex, region, and social grade.
Meanwhile, l have asked her for comment on Jolly’s closure.
