Small businesses are under increasing pressure from rising fixed costs, and proposed increases in business rates are placing further strain on firms that are already struggling to absorb higher overheads.

I have run Amax Estates and Property Services Ltd in Gravesend for 24 years, employing local people and contributing to the local economy. Like many small and independent businesses, we operate on very tight margins.

In recent years, small businesses have already had to absorb:

Rising energy and operating costs
Higher employer National Insurance contributions
Increases in the National Living Wage
Growing regulatory and compliance requirements

Business rates are a fixed cost, not linked to profitability or trading conditions. When business rates rise, small businesses cannot simply offset the increase — it immediately impacts cashflow and sustainability.

Further increases in business rates risk putting additional strain on small, locally rooted businesses, making it harder to operate, invest, and support local employment. This ultimately affects town centres, local services and jobs.

Small businesses are not large corporations. We do not have significant reserves or the ability to absorb repeated cost increases. Treating small businesses as an endless source of revenue is unsustainable and damaging to local economies.

This petition calls on government and local authorities to halt further increases in business rates for small businesses and to properly consider the cumulative impact of rising costs on the small business sector.