The British Independent Retailers Association has responded to January’s announcement giving pubs 15% business rates relief with a hard-hitting podcast calling the policy “fundamentally misdirected” and revealing that only 32% of pubs are actually on high streets.
The latest episode of ‘High Street Matters’ from BIRA challenges the government’s decision to exclude retailers from the relief package announced in January 2026, despite ministers claiming they want to support high streets and communities.
The episode, titled ‘Pubs Yes, Retailers No – Why the Government’s High Street Response Misses the Mark’, features Andrew Goodacre, CEO of Bira, and John Jones, managing partner of Philip Morrison Sons, a family-run department store in Hereford.
Andrew Goodacre said: “It’s just wrong to be honest about it in simple terms. That stat – only 32% of pubs are on high streets – bearing in mind the rhetoric coming from Treasury has been that the decision made for pubs has been about communities and about high streets.”
Mr Goodacre explained that when business rates relief first started in 2019, it was always retail, hospitality and leisure together because “the government at the time recognised that retail, hospitality and leisure occupy the same space on the same high streets and need the same support. For some reason, this policy seems to ignore that good practice.”
Mr Jones said he was “baffled” by the selective approach: “We’ve really all got the same pressures. We’ve got minimum wage, national insurance, business rates, utilities. But in retail, we’ve also got this retail crime epidemic of theft from the shops, which is something that pubs don’t suffer from in the same way.”
The podcast comes as research from Southampton University warns that Labour faces an electoral wipeout unless it tackles high street decline, with voters ranking their high streets as the third most important local issue.
Mr Goodacre warned against assumptions that online shopping would replace physical retail:
Two-thirds of all things are still bought in shops. It’s a very poor society if we don’t have somewhere where we can go, walk around, have some vibrancy that gives us a chance to unwind. Retail, hospitality, leisure – all elements of a high street that would allow that to happen.”
Mr Jones said: “I think it’s great news that people value high streets as much as they do. But I’m not optimistic that the understanding from the decision makers is there in the short term to get this right.”
The podcast will be available from today (18.02.2026) by searching for ‘High Street Matters Bira’ online.
