Retail entrepreneur Theo Paphitis used his keynote speech at the 2025 Retail Technology Show, held last week at London’s ExCeL, to call on the government to reform business rates.
He has long been campaigning for business rate reform, and was reported in Retail Gazette as saying the current system “will kill the high street on its own at some stage.”
Yet again, Theo called for a level playing field across retail, saying “the previous government ignored the rise of online.”
He told the audience: “The good news is that the present UK government acknowledged the problem in their manifesto and a governmental white paper is due in the Autumn.
“Of course, the new government has made a few mis-steps themselves in their nine months in charge as they learn the ropes, but they’ll have to stop blaming their predecessors once they hit the one year in charge mark,” he added.
This year, Ryman celebrates 30 years since Theo took ownership in 1995.
Top: Retail entrepreneur Theo Paphitis is once again calling for business rates reform.
