In a bid to court businesses and retailers, the Conservative Party have said that if it won a majority and the upcoming election it would “extend the retail discount on business rates to 50% next year” for businesses with a rateable value of less than £51,000.

The party said this would “increase the retail discount from 33% to 50% in 2020/2021” and would effectively be a £280m tax cut for small businesses.

However, in a statement, the BRC said extending the discount to small businesses did not go far enough to save the UK’s suffering high streets and retailers.