A FAMILY-RUN business that has been trading in Worcester for more than 50 years is set to close down.

Nevitt Lighting in Broad Street, launched by John and Enfys Nevitt in 1969, is currently under the stewardship of their son, Andrew Nevitt, who says he’s being forced to close down the business for a myriad of reasons, including business rates, parking costs, and the levy he has to pay Worcester BID (Business Improvement District).

Mr Nevitt said: “After more than 50 years of trading, one of Worcestershire’s oldest established businesses will sadly close this year.

“Owing to the high cost of business rates, car parking, and the BID levy, as well as pressures on the High Street and decreasing footfall, we are no longer able to keep Nevitt Lighting viable.

“We would like to thank all our customers for their support over the years and also our loyal staff who have remained with us through the good and not so good times.”

Nevitt’s will shut when its remaining stock has been sold, and the premise at 48 Broad Street is now up for sale.

The announcement of this impending loss to the city centre follows the recent closures of Mothercare and Hawkins Bazaar, amongst others, in Worcester.

Business rates, which are effectively a type of tax, are set by central government, collected by Worcester City Council and sent to the government, to be redistributed back to the council for local spending. Worcestershire was part of a pilot scheme last year to keep 75 per cent of the collected rates, instead of the usual 50 per cent. The city council and other Worcestershire districts agreed to give the county council the extra money for adult social care.

Worcester BID has been in operation since April 2010 and is a non-profit organisation with the aim of improving the trading conditions for the businesses who contribute a BID levy in the city. The BID has helped to organise a number of events with the aim of increasing footfall, and promotes the city nationally to attract visitors.

Chris Horner, the insolvency director at Business Rescue Expert, explained why such closures of high street businesses are not a surprise: “A lot of retailers were banking on a bumper Christmas to ride to the rescue of their balance sheets and the reports we’ve seen coming out this month indicate that for a lot of them, it just hasn’t happened.

“All retail stores are facing increased threats on multiple fronts including dwindling high street footfall, high rents, increasing business rates and rising staff costs including a pegged minimum wage rise due to come in on April 1."