From your MP: Turning Around Our High Street

High Streets should be the beating hearts of our towns in West Suffolk, especially in places like Newmarket. During the general election, I made a promise to fight for a new approach towards helping our high streets. Strong high streets support local businesses, community spaces, and civic pride. This demands action from government at multiple levels. Sadly, the Budget has not helped. We needed a plan for growth but instead got more taxes, spending, and borrowing. This will make life harder for people in West Suffolk.
Last month, the Chancellor cut the business rates relief on retail, hospitality, and leisure properties to 40% for 2025-26, which is effectively a tax increase. This is down from the 75% business rates relief introduced under the previous government. By increasing employer’s National Insurance Contributions, this Budget has placed additional pressure on local businesses, suppressing wages and destroying jobs. We need an honest and clear debate around business rates reform if we are going to rebuild our high streets.
There is no silver bullet. This is a complex challenge that also involves parking charges and rents that put pressure on local businesses, and we need better enforcement of the rules on things like fly-tipping, parking, and shop fronts. Technology is certainly changing our shopping habits but there is no reason why it should come at the expense of high streets. These pose tough questions but there is no reason why we should accept the status quo. We must find a way through.
As your local MP, I am committed to using the convening power of my office to knock heads together and find solutions. To find out more about the difficulties facing the high street in Newmarket and elsewhere, I have been personally getting to know the people who make our local businesses tick. Every town is different and has its distinctive character. Newmarket is no exception. Listening to residents and businesses, I will be acting on their behalf to improve our local area.
My Charter for West Suffolk also encourages developers in Newmarket to put people before profit. Development must happen in the right places in the right ways. This means developers must invest in the communities where they build, putting money into new infrastructure and services. I will carefully review any new development proposals for Newmarket to ensure they fit the character of the town and contribute in a positive way to high street renewal and improving the local quality of life.
That is why I will be engaging with local council leaders, retailers, and business experts to address these issues. But central government must get a grip on business rates reform. It currently imposes too heavy a burden on high streets and too much revenue is redistributed to other areas without being reinvested into high streets. Small businesses need more support from both local and central government. In Newmarket, we need to get the high street back to where it should be and help the market to flourish.