London’s West End businesses are urging the government to overhaul business rates, step up action on retail crime and introduce a new incentive to boost spending by international visitors as part of a major growth plan for the shopping district.
New West End Company, which represents more than 800 businesses across Oxford Street, Regent Street, Bond Street and Mayfair, has launched its ‘Open for Growth’ manifesto setting out a series of policy demands aimed at driving growth over the next decade.
The business group said the West End generates around £17bn in tax each year and accounts for eight per cent of all UK business rates, despite sitting within an area that can be crossed on foot in around 20 minutes.
It also supports more than 350,000 jobs and records close to £9bn in annual turnover.
A key focus of the manifesto is business rates, with NWEC warning that recent changes have sharply increased bills for some of the district’s biggest retailers and hospitality operators.
It said the combined annual business rates liability of West End firms affected by the highest multiplier has risen from £212m to £274m following changes introduced in April, equivalent to an average increase of around £183,000 per property.
The organisation is calling for no further increases to the higher multiplier, transitional support for businesses entering the top bracket and a move away from so-called “slab-based” multipliers towards a more progressive system.
It also wants longer intervals between business rates reviews to give retailers greater certainty when making long-term investment decisions.
The demands come after NWEC research found UK property taxes accounted for roughly seven per cent of occupancy costs, compared with an international average of around three per cent.
NWEC chief executive Dee Corsi said: “The West End is not only an engine for economic growth in London but drives economic output for every part of the UK.”
She added that the district’s growth potential depended on having a policy framework that remained internationally competitive.
The manifesto also renews calls for measures designed to attract more spending from overseas shoppers.
NWEC said it continues to support the return of tax-free shopping for international visitors but is also exploring an alternative incentive that could encourage tourists to spend across retail, hospitality and leisure throughout the UK.
International visitor numbers to the West End rose 11.8 per cent last year, despite a decline in international travel into London overall, while retail was cited by 92 per cent of visitors as a main reason for visiting the district.
The organisation’s global benchmarking study, published in June, ranked London among the world’s strongest cities for culture, tourism, innovation and investment appeal, but placed it last among the international cities assessed for policy competitiveness.
NWEC has also called for any future overnight visitor levy to be kept in line with rates in competing global cities, with proceeds reinvested in the areas where they are raised.
It is also backing calls from some members for longer Sunday trading hours within the West End.
Retail crime forms the third major pillar of the plan.
NWEC is pushing for sustained neighbourhood policing and a national multi-agency taskforce focused on organised retail and acquisitive crime, alongside a statutory framework governing the use of live facial recognition.
The group has already committed £23m to security and operations over the next five years and said almost 80,000 hours of high-visibility private security patrols were funded during its last BID year.
It said theft-from-person offences, including phone theft, fell 45 per cent in 2025 following work with the Metropolitan Police.
The manifesto lands as West End businesses step up investment in the district, with NWEC members committing £60m between 2026 and 2031 across security, public realm improvements and destination marketing.
NWEC said its existing development pipeline could add a further £558m to West End turnover by 2035, provided businesses are given greater planning and investment certainty.
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