Charity Shops

[atalanta]

What benefits or concessions, if any, do charity shops get which ordinary high-street businesses don't get ? Do these benefits vary depending which towns/cities they operate in ?

[237SJ]

They get a large discount on business rates. Don't know if it varies according to their council - probably

[Mamyalynne]

https://www.charityretail.org.uk/how-charity-shops-work/

[EDDIE51]

They only pay 20% of the normal business rates. They get their stock for free and apart from the manager the staff are unpaid volunteers.

[EDDIE51]

^ Which may explain why my small town center has 5 charity shops but no butcher ,greengrocer or fishmonger. ( It also has 4 funeral directors)

[hc4361]

0% VAT on donated goods and Gift Aid that entitles them to claim back on extra 25p in every pound raised from the Inland Revenue, where applicable.

[Davemano]

Charity shops are exempt from paying VAT as all the goods are given.

[hc4361]

Eddie, I'm sure the charity shops in your area aren't selling meat and veg but I won't be surprised if the huge supermarket down the road does.

[Jackdaw33]

With you there, Eddie. Fishmongers are as rare as hens' teeth these days. Hopefully, when we leave the EU and reclaim our seas they will make a comeback.

[Mamyalynne]

With independent shops closing Councils are happy to at least get 20% in rates and not have empty shop premises in high streets which only attract vandalism.

[Davemano]

These shops are in almost every High Street, and to my knowledge they take property which has stood empty a while, and will continue until a another trader comes along.

[EDDIE51]

hc4361, There is a very small Morrisons supermarket in the town center and a large Tesco Extra a mile and a half outside the town center, too far away for a lot of the elderly people who like to shop in a town center.
The Morrisons often runs out of even the basic items and is too small to stock the full range you normally expect.

[hc4361]

It's not just the councils, Mamya. Landlords now have to pay 100% business rates on empty properties so prefer to pass the burden of that on to the charity shops even if it means they are getting much less rent than they expected, or none in some cases. Very often there is a clause that the charity will vacate if a full paying tenant is found.

[hc4361]

Eddie, a lot of people will be buying their meat, fish and veg from the Tesco superstore. Free convenient parking, a safe, warm and dry shopping environment with sparkling clean toilets. My Tesco superstore has a bus stop in the car park and the little ring and ride buses seem to be arriving and leaving in a continual loop full of pensioners and the less able. That's what has caused the decline of high shop grocery shopping.

[pastafreak]

I'm not sure how leaving the EU will bring more fishmongers to the high street. They still have to pay rates, rents...and be competitive with the supermarkets. That's the reason so many businesses struggle.

[hc4361]

75% of the fish landed in the UK is exported - they get a much better price for it than we are prepared to pay if it goes abroad. A lot of fish we eat is imported, we prefer prawns to mackerel.