A LOCAL MP has warned that high street businesses are at risk of collapse unless more support is given due to the “burden of economic instability.”

Anna Sabine, whose Frome and East Somerset constituency takes in Midsomer Norton and Radstock, issued the warning during a parliamentary debate on Monday, November 25.

She pointed to small businesses in Midsomer Norton which “epitomise the traditional high street” and Frome which is full of “independent cafes, bookshops and tailors.”

Ms Sabine highlighted both town’s shopping hubs as “the centre of local economies and places for community cohesion” which provide job opportunities. And in the case of Denude, a zero-waste shop in Frome, support the local community to live more sustainably.

While these independent shops and businesses should be celebrated, in recent years they have felt the impact of economic, societal and consumer change.

Ms Sabine said during the debate: “For the last nine years, small businesses and local high streets have felt the burden of economic instability and other pressures. The shops and businesses that still exist have fought hard to protect themselves, and they have in many ways defied the odds.

“They have had to adapt to changing consumer trends, compete with the rise of online retail giants, navigate Covid-19, and survive the mini-Budget and the subsequent impact on mortgage rates and disposable income, which is still being felt.”

While praising local businesses for their ability to adapt, Anna spoke of the measures that have been taken so far to assist them. Though permanently lowering business rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure, she says, is a step in the right direction but “it is still not enough to help high streets thrive again”.

She added: “The Government must go further and do more to help small businesses on the high street and elsewhere bounce back from the toll that the past few years has taken on them.

“Small businesses can adapt, but not endlessly, and I fear that at the moment too much is being thrown at them with insufficient support.”

Ms Sabine also put her name to a letter to the Minister of Housing, Communities and Local Government from the Great South West APPG, a cross-party group aimed at promoting the needs of the South West. The letter highlighted the “significant economic potential” for the region and calls for more investment and attention to be given in order to “drive regional growth” and utilise the resources and workers we have available.