Simon Peace at High Ground

COFFEE shop owners in Angel have warned that an increase in business rates could force them to shut their doors.

The cafés in Upper Street say they will be faced with a tax hike of up to 40 per cent come April and argue that the rise will drive independent businesses out of the area.

Simon Peace, who owns High Ground, told the Tribune that his shop which has been open for four years is “just about hanging on”.

“Even before it was too high, then it got higher, now it’s going to get even higher,” he said.

“We thought this year that we could close down, before we even knew the rates were going up. We found a space round the corner to have a kitchen to bake things to cut costs. That’s a last roll of the dice. Now, I wish we hadn’t done that. If I don’t get an early sign that that’s going to work, I’m going to have to sell off.”

The former police officer has been in the coffee business for more than two decades, but said come April they will have to make £200 more a day just to stay afloat.

“The way we are going it will take us eight to ten years just to get back the money we put it. Starbucks don’t pay tax because they have arrangements. You do need to go after the big companies, but you need to allow the smaller businesses to make some money because they are closing down,” he said.

Meanwhile Andrea, the owner of Devotion on Cross Street, said that the increases would force them to pass costs on to customers. “It’s like something which is never-ending. I try to keep prices as low as I can, but now it will be more difficult,” he said.

Devotion on Cross Street

For Andrea, the price of a single plastic cup has risen from 15p to 25p over the course of a year.

“The government need to understand that if we go down this path of increasing everything, you will end up with a high street where you just see big chains. It will be the end of independent businesses in general. If they want this to happen, they are going about it the right way,” he told the Tribune.

Pubs will benefit from a 15 per cent discount on business rates from April, but the government has not offered the same support to businesses that form part of the daytime economy.

“The case has been made that pubs are a social hubs, that’s true, but coffee shops are as well. The sticking plaster, the little bit of relief they’ve been given is too small, but at least it’s something,” said Mr Peace. “They are places where people come, connect with people.” He said that the government “always quote it as being essential but they make no provision to protect it”.

Andrea added: “It’s unfair because the pubs have more power than us. It’s justified because it’s ‘part of English heritage’, and they have more connection with the government, but everyone deserves to be able to drink coffee at a reasonable price.”

Islington South and Finsbury MP Emily Thornberry has echoed the concerns of the coffee shop owners and criticised the government for not supporting daytime hospitality businesses. Dame Emily told the Tribune: “The owners of the independent coffee shops I’ve spoken to live locally, employ locally, spend their money in local shops, and send their kids to local schools. Instead of homogeneous high streets, we should embrace businesses that are owner-operated, family-run and totally embedded in the community.”