Betsy Tobin (left), who runs Highbury bookshop Ink@84 with business partner Tessa Shaw, told the Tribune they are seeing a ‘perfect storm’ of rising costs

INDEPENDENT bookshops in Islington are campaigning for the government to recognise their cultural value by matching a cut in business rates enjoyed by pubs and clubs.

Shops on high streets across the borough are backing a campaign organised by the Booksellers Association asking the government to extend a 20 per cent cut in rates.

Prime minister Andy Burnham announced the discount earlier this month as part of a policy plan to revitalise the country’s high streets, targeting vape shops and betting shops, while giving discounts to hospitality venues.

But booksellers feel left out of the conversation.

Betsy Tobin, who runs Highbury bookshop Ink@84 with her business partner Tessa Shaw, told the Tribune that her shop was seeing a “perfect storm” of rising costs.

She said: “We’re starting to see rising salaries, increased national insurance and business rates. Utilities have skyrocketed. It’s just that everything has conspired together.

“And now we’re looking at a year-on-year increase in business rates over the next three years. Whilst the amounts aren’t huge, they will build up over time, and all of these costs make the trading climate a lot more difficult for us.”

During the pandemic, business rates were completely removed for retail businesses, and tapered off in the following years to provide extra support to their loss of trade.

Of Books and Love owner Sabrina Malih is backing calls for bookshops’ business rates to be cut

But a change in how they were calculated in April has left some in Islington struggling to keep up. The new system calculated the “rateable value” of a firm’s premises and determined their rates that way. So higher rents, which are seen across Islington’s high streets, mean higher rates.

Sabrina Malih, owner of Of Books and Love, is also a supporter of the campaign, having opened her shop in Angel last year.

She said: “The justification for pubs being given these discounts, is because they’re seen as social spaces. But bookshops are the exact same!

“They are so much more than just shops, they are places for people with shared passion to meet and be out and about.

“Books are not something you can make much profit on, but they bring so much joy, cultural and educational benefit to people of all ages. So many are struggling and need the support.”

Ms Tobin added that bookshops run on the “tightest margins” and a reduction in business rates would allow some breathing space and make trading feel less pressurised.

“There comes a point when you reach your trading level, but if costs continue to rise you really worry how you’re going to make ends meet.

“It’d be so sad if we had to close down because of rising costs, and I think our customer base would be absolutely devastated.

“It’s not something we’re looking at imminently, but there’s going to come a point when we want to hand this shop over to the next generation. And so we need to demonstrate that it’s a viable business, which it always has been.”

The Booksellers Association’s campaign has received support from high-profile writers such as Philip Pullman.

Laura McCormack, head of policy at the association, said: “The government is right to give communities greater power to shape their high streets. But tackling the businesses people don’t want is only half the job, we also need to create the conditions for the businesses they value to thrive.

“Bookshops are exactly the kind of shops and community spaces the government says people are crying out for. Yet independent bookshops, in particular, are facing significant increases in business rates that make it harder to invest and grow.”