{"id":934120,"date":"2026-09-14T16:20:02","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T21:20:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/14\/back-bookshops-in-bid-to-rebuild-high-streets-burnham-urged\/"},"modified":"2026-09-14T16:20:02","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T21:20:02","slug":"back-bookshops-in-bid-to-rebuild-high-streets-burnham-urged","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/14\/back-bookshops-in-bid-to-rebuild-high-streets-burnham-urged\/","title":{"rendered":"Back bookshops in bid to rebuild high streets, Burnham urged"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Bloomsbury

Bestselling authors have urged Burnham to cut bookshop business rates<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Leading authors have called on Andy Burnham to roll out emergency support to the UK\u2019s small bookshops as part of his pledge to save Britain\u2019s high streets.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The bestselling writers, along with 200 booksellers, have written to the Prime Minister, urging him to set out a business rates<\/a> relief package for bookshops as they contend with crippling tax bills.<\/p>\n

The authors, which include Maggie O\u2019Farrell and Phillip Pullman, have told Burnham that he should treat bookshops with the same urgency as pubs and music venues, whose business rates bills he vowed to slash<\/a> just days after entering Downing Street.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFollowing the announcement of new relief for pubs, clubs and live music venues, we were deeply disappointed to learn that bookshops would not be included,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe government has accepted that businesses which deliver significant community benefit deserve targeted support. Bookshops clearly meet that test.\u201d<\/p>\n

Business rates bills on the rise<\/h2>\n

The booksellers and writers claim the Treasury has conceded that bookshops deserve targeted support as part of the government\u2019s commitment to support businesses that bring \u201csocial benefits to our communities\u201d.<\/p>\n

Government officials acknowledged \u201cthe important role that bookshops play in communities across the country and the contribution they make to local high streets\u201d when asked why bookshops were excluded from Burnham\u2019s business rates package.<\/p>\n

The Treasury says bookshops already benefit from lower business rates multipliers and temporary caps on how much these taxes can rise.<\/p>\n

But the authors have told Burnham they are becoming \u201cincreasingly frustrated\u201d by Labour\u2019s claims that it is supporting the retail sector through its changes to business rates.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is not the reality facing independent bookshops,\u201d they said, noting that many of these businesses are not eligible for the full business rates relief offered to small businesses. They added that temporary reliefs on the tax are due to expire later this decade.<\/p>\n

These independent bookshops will face annual tax hikes of \u00a34,563 by 2029\/30, meaning they would need to sell 1,141 extra books to cover the cost, the writers and booksellers claim.<\/p>\n

The total business rates receipts paid by independent booksellers are projected to rise by 35 per cent to \u00a35.65m by the end of the decade, according to the Booksellers Association, which has organised the campaign.<\/p>\n

Bookshops \u2018deserve same support as pubs\u2019<\/h2>\n

In recent weeks, Andy Burnham has unveiled plans to crack down on vape shops, gambling centres and other \u201crogue operators\u201d on British high streets.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the Booksellers Association told the Prime Minister he needs to urgently set out how he will \u201caddress the other half of the equation\u201d by backing the businesses which offer value to the high street.<\/p>\n

The trade body claims that bookshops deserve support as part of Burnham\u2019s high street overall because they host community events and boost literacy across the country.<\/p>\n

Adam Kay, the former doctor and author of bestselling memoir This Is Going to Hurt, said it was \u201creally welcome news that the government will be supporting pubs and live music venues \u2013 all hugely important parts of our communities.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut bookshops are too, and right now they need the same helping hand.\u201d<\/p>\n

The letter to Burnham was also backed by Hamnet author Maggie O\u2019Farrell and His Dark Materials writer Philip Pullman.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Felix Armstrong
Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sunday 16 August 2026 12:10 pm \u00a0|\u00a0 \u00a0Updated:\u00a0 Sunday 16 August 2026 12:12 pm Bestselling authors have urged Burnham to cut bookshop business rates Leading authors have called on Andy Burnham to roll out emergency support to the UK\u2019s small bookshops as part of his pledge to save Britain\u2019s high streets.\u00a0 The bestselling writers, along<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":934121,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65594,4005],"tags":[65592,7751],"class_list":["post-934120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bookshops","category-rebuild","tag-bookshops","tag-rebuild"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/934120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=934120"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/934120\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/934121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=934120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=934120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=934120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}