Mel Stride MP has welcomed a new campaign day which aims to celebrate the importance of high streets within our communities and encourage residents to shop locally and support their local businesses.
The #HighStreetSaturday initiative is part of a number of measures the Government is taking to support our high streets which include delivering £10billion of business rates support since 2016 and providing £675million of funding to help modernise high streets.
Mel said:
“Last week I was in Chagford discussing various issues affecting businesses in the town with the Chair of the Chagford Business Association. Chagford is one of a dozen market towns in Central Devon with a wonderful variety of shops selling high-quality local produce and offering a range of services. Many are doing very well, but others face stiff competition from out of town and online retailers. Having started my own business from scratch many years ago I know that the margin between success and failure can be very small and hopefully #HighStreetSaturday will help increase the number of people who make it a priority to shop locally more often.”
A treasury minister Mel was instrumental in reducing business rates for the majority of small high street traders by a third.
