5,500 Small Businesses Demand Urgent Review Of Business Rates In Open Letter To Reeves

Over 5,500 small business owners from across the UK have signed an open letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, calling for an urgent review of the upcoming business rates set to come in April 2026. The letter sends a strong warning that the rising costs could push businesses over the edge, forcing them to close.

The letter, which was organised by Reform UK politician Rupert Lowe MP, has been signed by pub landlords, café owners, shopkeepers and local employers who say they are already at breaking point after a decade of rising costs and economic shocks.

And just to make things harder, Reeves has announced that the government will be ending some relief schemes and setting new multipliers for different sectors.

The letter calls on Rachel Reeves to do an urgent review of the impact of the changes on small businesses and to do more to prevent these businesses shutting down.

What Is Set To Change?

From April 1st, the way business rates are worked out and charged is set to change for businesses across England and Wales.

Every business has something called a rateable value, which is a figure that describes what the government thinks this property could rent for today.

Importantly, it’s not the rent that is paid, it’s a number that the council uses to help work out the business rates payable.

These values are updated every few years to keep up with changes in the property market. The new ones will start in April 2026.

However, the major change this April is the current Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Business Rates Relief scheme, which gave businesses 40% off their business rates bill in the financial year 25/26, is due to end from April 2026. This was put in place in varying degrees after the COVID pandemic to help provide some economic relief.

Now, the government is changing the system so that some businesses pay slightly lower rates on an ongoing basis and other larger businesses pay more to cover the cost.

The problem? For many businesses, the old reliefs were bigger than the new reductions.

And whilst many small shops, pubs and cafes may benefit, other medium sized businesses and large stores are set to see their bills increase, especially in areas of the South East where operating costs are higher.

And for businesses that have battled the cost of living crisis and a weakening economy, this change is set to bring a big blow.

What Does The Letter Say?

The letter, which has been sent to the Chancellor, signed by over 5000 businesses, reads:

Dear Chancellor,

We are business owners – pubs, cafes, shops and local employers – who have kept going through a brutal decade.

We’ve dealt with rising rents, soaring energy bills, higher insurance, inflation, staffing pressures, Covid debt, and additional tax. We adapted, borrowed, cut our own wages and worked longer hours just to stay open.

Now we’re facing a business rates revaluation that, for many of us, will be the final straw.

Business rates are a fixed cost we can’t avoid. We can’t move online or relocate to a warehouse. We trade from real premises, on real high streets, serving real communities.

We are being punished for doing so.

This is about survival. For many businesses, even a modest rise means slashing staff, cutting hours, raising prices, or closing altogether.

We’re asking for fairness and common sense.

Please carry out an urgent review of the impact of the business rates revaluation on small businesses and put proper mitigation in place.

If our businesses go, they will not come back.

Commenting on the response, Rupert Lowe MP said:

“The scale of the response speaks for itself. Over 5,500 businesses, and the number continues to grow. Viable, hard-working firms that have been ground down year after year and are now being pushed too far.

“Business rates punish physical presence. They punish community businesses. And unless the Chancellor acts quickly, we will see permanent closures on high streets across the country. It will be apocalyptic, I promise you that.”

A Cry For Help From UK Businesses

For thousands of businesses across the UK, these new reforms are more than just a simple tax rise. After years of battling high costs, higher taxes on wages and more, the question becomes less about whether they can pay, but more around whether they can survive.

While the government argues that these changes help to create a fairer system, many on the high street worry that they are asking to pay sums that they simply cannot afford.

As April 2026 draws nearer, the call for a review is growing. Will the Chancellor listen? That remains to be seen…