2012 Budget prevents Games profit for small businesses

As part of today’s much-anticipated 2012 Budget announcement, Chancellor George Osborne made official the government’s decision to allow larger department stores and shops (like John Lewis, Selfridges and Harrods) to remain open for longer Sunday hours during the Olympic and Paralympic Games this summer, a move that will cost UK small businesses £480 million in lost profit.

The decision was met with outrage from the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) who condemned the action as “plain wrong”.

James Lowman, ACS chief executive said: “This Budget is devastating for tens of thousands of small retail businesses across the UK. The chancellor has set out his view that this budget will help to stimulate growth, however on the specific retail issues there is nothing for retailers to cheer.

“Sunday Trading relaxation will cost small businesses more than £480m and wipes out any hopes local shops had for a sales boost from the Olympics.”

The move provides yet more evidence that the Olympics are becoming less and less about providing independent businesses in the UK with a chance to truly benefit financially from hosting the iconic sporting event and more about keeping international, corporate sponsors as sweet as possible. With highly lucrative sponsorship deals being handed out to the highest (big-name, international) business bidders – such as payment giants Visa – and numerous Games contracts being sent overseas, there is little room for small British companies to use the Olympics to their financial advantage.

So, we at Cash-is-Cool are calling for you – members of the UK public – to take matters into your owns hands (and wallets) and stand up to support our country’s businesses that so badly need an Olympic-sized economic boost. Bypass the money-grabbing schemes of companies like Visa who want to seize the potential for profit at the cost of small businesses’ economic success – and all you need to do is pick cash over card.

Sound simple? It is!

Something as easy as paying with cash whenever possible will enable independent business owners to avoid extravagant card charges with every transaction (an average cash transaction cost retailers just 1.7p in transportation and banking costs; credit card payments cost a whopping 37.1p and debit cards cost out at 9.2p), helping them to make the most out of the potential Olympic profit available to them.

UK businesses are relying on the summer’s boost in tourism and trade in order to give them a much-needed reprieve from the country’s economic hardships – carry cash and give them the chance to reap all the rewards that the Olympics hold.
 

Wednesday, 21st March 2012

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