Letter: Government help for small business? I'd welcome it

Letter: In 2009 I was made redundant and decided to set up my own shop selling outdoor clothing and equipment. In April 2010 we opened in the Telford Shopping Centre.

The six months I spent getting everything in place were hard and stressful, and the year we have been open has been even more stressful. In this time I have worked with numerous companies, big and small, and in every instance we have encountered a level of helpfulness I was not expecting.

Everybody from landlords to utility companies and suppliers have assisted us and tried to make the first couple of years as easy as possible. Only one group of people have been impossible to reason with: HM Government.

Their attitude to retailers is frankly disgusting as they have set about raising VAT to 20 per cent and refused to adopt any measures that would make it possible to open up a new shop. But it is business rates that are truly ridiculous.

This a tax on retailers in much the same way council tax is on your home, only in this case the yearly charge for a reasonably-sized shop in a good location would buy you a three-bed semi.

I have approached my local MP and the Secretary of State for Local Communities and have received the usual political platitudes pointing out what they are doing to support business, which is frankly rubbish.

The appointment of Mary Portas is a publicity stunt as the recommendations she will make will require Mr Osborne to unhinge his purse strings - which he won't.

Mark Tarran

All Terrain Stores

Telford