Our country will have a new Prime Minister next week. This should be used as an opportunity to change course, but so far all I’ve seen from Andy Burnham is gimmicks like creating a ‘Number 10 North’, when our economy needs urgent attention and businesses need respite.
Unfortunately, the consequences of the Labour Government’s economic policies are becoming ever more apparent. More businesses are having pressures that can’t be sustained for much longer. Sadly, a recent local example of this was Coughlan’s Bakery, who a fortnight ago suddenly ceased trading at all 31 of their stores across Sussex, Surrey and South London. Their Crawley store at Maidenbower Square was popular and a focal point for the community. Now it’s an empty shop, one of thirty-one newly-empty shops across the wider area.
Coughlan’s Bakery, a family business for 89 years, survived through many economic crises, but they could not survive Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves in Downing Street. The increased rate of employer’s national insurance is now into its second year and it’s hammering businesses. It’s not just the increase, but it’s the lowering of the threshold at which it is paid, that is making jobs unsustainable and hitting businesses. Coughlan’s cited the NI rise and rising business rates as significant reasons for their demise.
Not all their pressures were down to the government. The huge rise in the cost of fuel since April due to the Iran war added significant pressure to Coughlan’s, as did having two week-long heatwaves within a few weeks of each other that halved takings, while running costs remained the same. But what happened here, and is happening to so many other businesses, is that their resilience to external shocks and pressures has become much less because of government policies.
Today I’ve heard that Decathlon are leaving Queens Square in Crawley, a huge blow for our town centre. If Andy Burnham wants our country to succeed, then he needs to be more business friendly than his predecessor. Reversing some or all of the National Insurance hike would be a good start to relieve business pressures.
Councillor Duncan Crow, Leader of Crawley Borough Council Conservative Group
15th July 2026
