FOLLOWING the publication of our Footfall Monitor, your editorial summarised the challenges facing Scottish high streets ("Footfall figures failing high street", The Herald, April 17).
Your warning that "reviving the high street is no longer about recreating a lost idyll" was particularly perceptive. From a retail perspective we have been clear on three key points of which policy makers should be cognizant when considering the future of high streets.
First, consumer demand is driving fundamental structural changes in the retail sector. Customers now shop in myriad different ways, so having the broadest range of shopping channels for maximum flexibility and convenience is fundamental to modern lifestyles. In Scotland, the customer can - rightly - choose from an increasingly diverse range of shopping locations and channels.
Secondly, whilst there are signs of "green shoots" in the economy much of this still hasn't translated into significantly improved and sustained levels of consumer confidence or greater ability to spend. This matters hugely for retailers because, whilst consumer spending has been held back, the cost of doing business on Scottish high streets has risen inexorably.
One of the most significant of these costs is business rates, a tax that only ever rises regardless of economic conditions, that punishes property occupiers for keeping shops open and investing, and which discourages online retailers from moving into property.
If we are serious about saving our high streets then government must act on fundamentally reforming business rates. Doing nothing means the country will miss out on investment, career opportunities and innovation. It will mean the continued decline of Scottish high streets. Doing nothing is not an option.
David Martin,
Head of policy and external affairs,
Scottish Retail Consortium,
12 Southbridge,
Edinburgh.
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