Dee Corsi, Chief Executive, New West End Company, commented:
“There’s a lot to welcome today. The Chancellor has rightly described London as an economic powerhouse, and the Government has taken welcome steps to support our high streets. Measures including a real-terms freeze on business rates for all retail, hospitality and leisure businesses, and making online marketplaces collect the VAT they owe, are encouraging. The commitment to greater devolution, with more locally raised funding staying local, is also something we have long called for, and good growth in every postcode starts with places like the West End.
“Whilst business rates reform remains the long-term prize to ensure all of our high streets are competitive on a global scale, the biggest opportunity now is a West End that is open to the world. With the Visitor Economy Growth Strategy still to come, we can turbocharge the measures that bring international visitors back, from a visitor spending incentive to making sure the right delivery partners are in place when the overnight visitor levy arrives.
“The West End generates enormous value for the whole country, and we are ready to work with the Government and the Mayor to keep powering the West End for the nation.”
