Rates hike 'could leave 275 towns without a bookshop'

Booksellers Association’s chief executive tells meeting at parliament that ‘if something isn’t done, booksellers will be put out of business’

Booksellers are warning that 275 towns across England and Wales could be left without a bookshop as a consequence of the rise in business rates earlier this year.

Booksellers Association chief executive Tim Godfray told MPs at a parliamentary reception earlier this month that a quarter of high-street bookshops are facing a minimum 10% increase in business rates – a statistic drawn from a March survey of its membership – and that “if something isn’t done, booksellers … will be put out of business”.

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