Parking restrictions battering business start-ups, says FPB

Date: 10th December 2008

Business start-ups are being battered by parking restrictions over the Christmas period, according to one organisation.

The Forum of Private Business (FPB) believes that extortionate car parking fees and stringent waiting periods are forcing festive shoppers to stay away from the high street.

The knock-on effect is a damaging one for small firms, the FPB claims, with many business start-ups already struggling with the recent change in VAT.

Chief executive of the FPB, Phil Orford, commented: "Restrictions to trade at this important time of the year are the last thing that struggling retailers need.

"Expensive parking charges and insufficient waiting times will only drive people away from our town centres and into the hands of large, often out-of-town chains, which can offer free parking."

He concluded by demanding that local councils remove parking restrictions to help struggling business start-ups.

Earlier in the week, an investigation by T-Mobile found that four-fifths of decision-makers at business start-ups feel as though they do not get enough time out of the office for networking opportunities.