Chancellor George Osborne failed to heed the warnings of the retail industry and freeze business rates in the Budget today.

Chancellor George Osborne failed to heed the warnings of the retail industry and freeze business rates in the Budget today.

It is a blow, but it is not unexpected, and neither does it signal an end to our campaign for a full overhaul of this archaic and damaging system.

Retailers now face an extra £175m of bills over the next 12 months as a result of the decision. At best this means a further squeeze on their ability to invest back into their businesses at a time when this cornerstone of UK GDP is already struggling with huge challenges.

The chancellor must balance the books of course - no enviable task in the current circumstances - but if the UK economy is to gather its strength, retail’s unique position as the country’s single largest private employer must be leveraged, not hindered. Ignoring this potential is both a folly and counter-intuitive for a Government that claims to be pro-business. The retail sector will take this disappointment in its stride and continue to fight for growth, but it should also be heartened by comments from business secretary Vince Cable at last week’s Retail Week Live, where he indicated that the business rates regime “can be restructured”.

There has been pan-industry support for our campaign - Fair Rates for Retail, run in conjunction with the British Retail Consortium, including signatures from chief executives at some of the most powerful businesses in the country. And Cable’s acknowledgement that the system is outdated is a small but significant victory and opens the way for rates reform. The industry must now find the collective strength to push as hard as it can to ensure that the door is flung wide open - an effort that will continue to have Retail Week’s full backing.