05/02/2026
Go Mark! 🙌🏻💪🏻🙌🏻
Today I’ve written directly to Rachel Reeves at the Treasury regarding the ongoing decline of our high streets.
I know many of you will think this will fall on deaf ears, but staying silent is not an option. We have to stand up and make government accountable for the damage current policies are doing to our amazing high streets not just in Newquay, but across the UK.
Below is the full email I sent today, including the latest industry statistics. I’ll continue to speak up for our businesses and our town.
Dear Rachel Reeves,
My name is Mark Warren, and I am the Manager of Newquay BID in Cornwall. I am writing to you directly regarding the ongoing and accelerating decline of UK high streets, and the very real impact that current government policies are having on local businesses.
I have met previously with Noah Law MP, who I believe is genuinely trying to support businesses in Newquay. However, despite these efforts, businesses on the ground are seeing no meaningful relief. I feel deeply disappointed that policies intended to protect working people are instead placing unsustainable pressure on the very businesses that employ them.
Employer National Insurance increases are forcing businesses to pause recruitment or reduce staff, which will inevitably drive unemployment in towns like mine. At the same time, taxes on hot food disproportionately impact small cafés and restaurants, while supermarkets remain largely insulated and can undercut town-centre traders on price. Independent businesses offering higher-quality products simply cannot pass these costs on to customers without losing trade.
While increases to the National Minimum Wage are well-intentioned, I struggle to see how workers will benefit if the businesses they rely on for employment are no longer viable. This is compounded by rising energy costs, business rates, insurance, supply chain pressures and general cost-of-living increases that small business owners absorb daily.
The scale of closures on UK high streets is stark. UKHospitality forecasts that without further support, 963 restaurants, 574 hotels and 540 pubs could close in 2026 alone. Footfall across UK high streets remains 15–20% below pre-pandemic levels, adding further pressure to already struggling town-centre businesses. A significant proportion of closures continue to be in sectors such as pubs, banks and essential services, eroding the diversity and resilience of our town centres.
I am particularly concerned that while short-term support has been directed towards the pub trade, many other high street businesses have been overlooked entirely. Having worked on UK high streets for most of my adult life, I do not understand how, at a time when Amazon and other global online retailers continue to extract vast profits, you are not placing greater accountability on large corporations rather than increasing the burden on independent business owners.
The stated ambition of vibrant, thriving high streets will not be realised if these pressures continue unchecked. High streets will simply cease to exist. Businesses are already on their knees, and many more closures will happen on your watch unless urgent action is taken.
I would genuinely welcome a response to this email and would be very interested to understand what concrete steps the government plans to take to prevent further decline and to actively support high street businesses before irreversible damage is done.
At present, it feels as though the voices of those trading day in, day out are not being heard.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. I sincerely hope it leads to meaningful engagement and action.
