More than 234 independent booksellers, supported by a group of prominent authors, have called on Prime Minister Andy Burnham and the chancellor to extend targeted business rates relief to bookshops, saying excluding them from recent measures puts shops at risk of closure and undermines community life.
Authors join campaign to protect bookshops from rising bills
The open letter, organised by the Booksellers Association and sent on 13 August, asks the government to treat bookshops in the same way as other businesses judged to deliver “significant community benefit”. The campaign follows a government announcement last month of a 20% reduction in business rates for pubs, clubs and live music venues from April 2027.
More than a dozen well-known writers added their names to the appeal. The authors listed in the source include Maggie O’Farrell, Philip Pullman, Katherine Rundell and Elif Shafak, alongside other figures such as Patrice Lawrence, Adam Kay, Lemn Sissay, Anthony Horowitz, Patrick Ness, Donna Ashworth and Rachel Joyce.
“Independent bookshops are the beating hearts of our high streets and communities,”
The letter argues that bookshops meet the test of delivering community benefit and that leaving them out of the relief package risks producing a contradiction: a government that promotes reading nationally while policies reduce investment in the very shops that foster it. The campaign also framed the relief as a way to secure a meaningful legacy from the planned National Year of Reading.
Numbers and policy context
The booksellers’ appeal highlights two policy decisions in the same period: a targeted reduction of business rates for live-entertainment venues, and new measures announced by Burnham to curb the spread of certain retail formats on high streets, including vape shops and betting outlets. Burnham said those businesses have displaced “the shops, services and community spaces that people are crying out for,” and proposed giving local authorities the power to reject new betting shops and adult gaming centres.
Booksellers argue that applying similar relief to bookshops would help preserve high-street diversity and sustain places that act as cultural and civic hubs. The letter states bookshops were “deeply disappointed” to learn they would not be included in the additional relief.
- 234 independent booksellers signed the open letter.
- 20% is the planned reduction in business rates for pubs, clubs and live music venues from April 2027.
- More than a dozen prominent authors added public support to the campaign.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Signatories | 234 independent booksellers |
| Government relief announced | 20% reduction for pubs, clubs and live music venues (from April 2027) |
| Notable author supporters | Maggie O’Farrell, Philip Pullman, Katherine Rundell, Elif Shafak, Patrice Lawrence, Adam Kay, Lemn Sissay, Anthony Horowitz, Patrick Ness, Donna Ashworth, Rachel Joyce |
Implications for high streets and cultural policy
The campaign frames business-rates relief as more than a narrow tax measure: it is presented as a policy lever for maintaining local cultural infrastructure. The booksellers’ letter argues that relief targeted at businesses with demonstrable community value is a logical extension of the approach already taken for live-music venues and pubs.
Support from visible authors is intended to sharpen the political case by linking the relief to wider cultural objectives, notably the National Year of Reading. The letter warns that without targeted support, bookshops may find it harder to invest, potentially reducing the variety of high-street offerings and the informal community spaces that many residents use.
The source reporting sets out the asks and the political backdrop; it does not record a government response. The proposal presents a clear choice for policymakers: either broaden the scope of targeted relief to include bookshops, or face an argument that policy is inconsistent with stated ambitions to promote reading and preserve community spaces.
Those monitoring the high-street economy will watch whether the chancellor or Downing Street opts to widen the relief — a decision that would have direct implications for the finances and survival prospects of hundreds of small bookshop businesses already contending with rising costs.
