A coalition of prominent authors, including Philip Pullman and Maggie O’Farrell, has called on new Labour Party Prime Minister Andy Burnham to introduce business rate cuts specifically benefiting bookshops.
O’Farrell, acclaimed for her novel “Hamnet,” alongside Pullman, Katherine Rundell, and Elif Shafak, have lent their voices to a campaign led by independent booksellers. The campaign seeks to expand business rates relief-currently available to pubs, clubs, and live music venues-to include bookshops.
On 13 August, the Booksellers Association coordinated an open letter signed by 234 independent booksellers expressing their disappointment that bookshops were excluded from the additional financial relief. The letter argues that bookshops deliver significant community benefits and therefore merit targeted support, in line with government recognition of other businesses.
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The letter also highlights the importance of such relief as a meaningful legacy for the National Year of Reading. It warns of a contradictory stance where the government promotes reading whilst implementing policies that could hinder investment in bookshops, potentially leading to closures.
O’Farrell emphasised the vital role of independent bookshops, describing them as “the beating hearts of our high streets and communities” and stressing their need for support. Rundell expressed concern that the loss of bookshops would erode cultural richness and access to new ideas.
Pullman added, “In the current encircling corporate darkness, independent booksellers are lighthouses, almost the last beacons shining to remind us about private reading, personal discovery, and the life-saving joy of encountering minds and hearts that speak to us as one person to another.”
Laura McCormack, head of policy and public affairs at the Booksellers Association, remarked, “You can’t rebuild Britain’s high streets by tackling the wrong businesses while making it harder for the right ones to succeed.”
The campaign reflects wider concerns about preserving independent businesses critical to cultural and community life amid evolving financial support policies.