It’s no wonder that small shops can’t make a living .
This is in a town high st near me .
So they have to pay this amount before any utilise tax staff heating etc
The parking there is outrageously expensive with wardens patrolling all the time .
It was once a bustling country town called the Capital of the Cotswolds now shops are shutting down at the rate of knots .
It’s bigger than it looks, but dingy inside. Makes you wonder.
https://stibbardproperty.co.uk/View/123/23-cricklade-street-cirencester-gl7-1hy
In that part of the world, if you want coffee & cake you drive to a garden centre. A burger, you drive to some joint on the bypass.
It is a sad fact that all small businesses will disappear, and wealthy people will create larger shops with staff who work in them.
If those staff don’t like the rules, then other jobs will not exist, so they have no income!
Aren’t we heading back to a time of haves & have nots where the upper classes rule?
How we vote won’t help because most politicians will put their own needs first & they need the finance of the wealthy to help them win an election.
We need to remember that money is the root of all evil! 
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What’s pcm?
It’s not just the small shops, here in York our John Lewis flagship store closed because for every £1 they received, 80p, went in rent…
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Per Calendar Month
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@d00d , Do you mean to say that people no longer come TO town to shop,
But people living IN town now go out of town to shop ??
WTF! 
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Of course they do .
Because big shops like Tescos have free car parks and most garden centres have nice coffee shops also free car parks loos etc etc
These shops are usually not far from the town and run bus services to the shop from town for those without cars .
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I know absolutely nothing about the running costs of shops, but I assume that the landlord is charging roughly the going rate for this sized/positioned unit. Its not in his/her interest to do otherwise, surely?
They are greedy .
These small shops are failing all the time .
Because once you have paid to have the shop fitted out , then the ginormous council tax , heating staff other taxes it comes to more like £5k + pcm.
So you have to make that much before you start to make any profit .
If they charged less then they would rent them quicker - this has still empty for months .
The car parks in Cirencester make a huge profit they are horrendously expensive to the detriment of the small businesses there .
It’s 80p for 30mins
1.70 for 1hour
£3 for two hours and so on.
I suppose it’s the same everywhere
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@Muddy ,. But l have found that prices in garden centres are horrendous
too!! Artefacts particularly so ??
Yes they are .
Don’t buy em that’s the answer .
Are they likely to be cheaper in a small shop ?
I use a local independent corner shop it’s very handy for those emergencies errr chocolate , milk …
It’s always open, very friendly.
Yes everything costs more than the giant supermarkets but worth it for the convenience.
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I used to rent shops a few decades ago because they were cheaper than a house, had more accommodation and were centrally located if you picked the right area
Your use of a small local shop is admirable. Yes these local shops will often be more expensive than supermarkets but they lack the buying power and the ability to absorb losses on some products. If you do not shop in the local shops they will simply close. Then the convenience will disappear.
Near us there is a small privately owned petrol station. Yes, its a (very) few percent more expensive than petrol at the supermarket. But the supermarkets are further away. And of course there are locals who say “I don’t often buy petrol at that local place, its more expensive”. Yet I’m sure they’d be the first to complain if that local petrol station shut.
plus the fact the petrol you use going to the supermarket further away negates any savings you would have made
FWIW I very rarely go to any shops these days. We get our groceries delivered to our door, also with meat man. Other things we get in line like the new augur. There are some things like the 'flu shot where I do go to the doctor’s surgery or the vet. I am sorry for the small shops but perhaps it the way we have changed our practices or habits. Maybe the Covid epidemic accelerated that rate.