Red tape, business rates and vape bans are at risk of pushing corner shops to the brink, writes London Assembly member Andrew Boff
The beep of the till. The hum of the fridge. A cheerful “Alright, mate” from behind the counter. It’s a soundtrack all Londoners will know. But how long will it last?
London’s corner shops are marvels of organised chaos: everything you need, nothing you don’t. These are often family businesses, passed from generation to generation, open all hours, run on wafer-thin margins and relied upon by millions — especially the elderly, low-income families and anyone not lucky enough to have a supermarket within walking distance.
The importance of corner shops
They aren’t just about convenience foods. Hundreds of thousands of Londoners have prepayment metres for utilities, meaning that access to corner shops to top up prepayment cards and keys is essential. Few things are more disheartening than getting home from work in the depths of winter, greeted by a surprise lack of electricity, and having to hike to your nearest corner shop, only to see that it had been permanently shut down the previous week.
Hundreds of corner shops face closure this year, thanks to a toxic mix of spiralling costs: soaring business rates, brutal energy bills, wage hikes and Labour’s jobs tax. As City AM reported, industry groups have warned of one of the worst weeks for overhead increases in recent memory and a survey by the Federation of Independent Retailers – which represents 9,000 newsagents and corner shops – found that over half of shop owners are being forced to cut staff, while two-thirds plan to reduce employee hours just to stay afloat.
And what’s the government doing to help? Nothing. Worse than nothing – it’s tying them in red tape.
From 1 October, “buy one get one free” promotions on food high in fat, salt or sugar will be banned. A minor tweak, say the health mandarins. In reality, it’s a sledgehammer to small shops. These offers help working families stretch their weekly shop and give corner shops a way to compete. Now, they’re gone.
Why vape bans might be the last straw
But first up, from June, the ban on disposable vapes will come in. These make up a huge chunk of revenue for some of the smallest shops. Add the so-called “generational smoking ban” – requiring shopkeepers to verify whether someone was born before or after 1 January 2009 – and the whole thing becomes a bureaucratic nightmare, with workers expected to distinguish between a 41- and 42-year-old in the future?
It means more staff, more training, more hassle – and fewer sales. Meanwhile, online sellers and black-market dealers will clean up, selling illicit vapes and counterfeit cigarettes to the same young adults Whitehall claims to protect.
These are legal products. People will continue to buy them – just not from the tax-paying, licence-holding local shop. Instead, it’ll be the guy on the street corner with a duffel bag full of dodgy goods. Sound familiar? It should. We’ve been here before.
HMRC already estimates that seven per cent of cigarettes and a staggering 33 per cent of hand-rolling tobacco consumed in the UK are already illegal – untaxed, unregulated and all too often sold to children. And it can only get worse.
What’s more, buried in the Tobacco and Vapes Bill is one more landmine: a mandatory licence to sell tobacco or nicotine. Every shop, big or small, will need one. There’ll be a charge, but currently, there is no cap on how high it can go. And the councils that will issue the licences? Nowhere near ready. The Daily Express recently revealed that over 20 local authorities with the worst illicit tobacco problems have made zero plans for how to fund or enforce this new system.
How long will licences take? How much paperwork will be needed? How much will they cost? No one seems to know. And some of the responses from London boroughs are frankly alarming. As Greenwich Council admitted, “with the introduction of a licensing regime and restrictions on products, there may be a consolidation in the market”. Translation: more closures. Fewer shops.
They added: “There are an extensive number of businesses engaged in the retail sale of vapes and tobacco products. This is currently far greater in number than premises licensed to sell alcohol.”
The pitfalls of hasty regulation
In London, we’ve seen this story before – and recently. Some boroughs’ licensing schemes for private landlords led to a mass exodus from the sector, as many decided it simply wasn’t worth the hassle anymore. Now, we’re on the verge of repeating that mistake with small retailers.
Another ill-conceived licensing scheme, rushed through without proper planning or funding, could be the death knell for countless corner shops. The system will buckle – and the black market will flourish in the gaps. It’s a textbook case of regulation made in haste, imposed without proper consultation and enforced at the expense of the honest, hard-working businesses that keep our economy going.
Of course we should stop underage vaping. Of course we should go after cowboys selling dodgy goods. But let’s not punish decent people trying to run a business, serve their communities and stay afloat in an increasingly hostile market.
There’s a better way. Raising the smoking age to 21 would cut smoking rates just as fast over the long term, according to the government’s own data, without creating a system where adults would have different treatment under the law depending on which side of an arbitrary age limit they were born on.
As Friedrich Hayek put it: laws must be general, equal and certain. What we’re getting instead is confusion, cost and coercion. All for the illusion of a public health victory.
Corner shops aren’t the problem. They’re the solution – offering access, convenience and community. I will be sticking up for them in the London Assembly and asking the Mayor – who last year said he was the most “pro-business” Mayor we’ve ever had – what he’ll be doing to help.
The assault on corner shops is madness. It needs to stop.