BUSINESS leaders and traders claim that high rents in West Dorset are crippling their trade.

Bridport Chamber of Trade president Mike Harvey fears high rents in the town centre are ‘unsustainable’.

Chartered surveyor Lewis Findlay, who negotiates rents on behalf of both tenants and landlords, claims businesses are caught in a trap that keeps rents high during times of recession.

The comments come as empty shops remained unfilled in town as Bridport prepares for the busy summer season.

East Street – which has the highest rents – is the hardest hit with Chez Cuddy, Generations, Hop in the Vine, and the estate agents, all still vacant.

Mr Findlay, of Findlay and Butler in Gundry Lane, said the problem was most leases were ‘upwards only’ ones with rents only increasing.

He said that for tenants to persuade landlords that rents ought to go down, they had to show evidence of what was happening with other businesses.

“If you are negotiating a rent review, it is based on transactions.

“What tends to happen in a recession is that there is no recent evidence to show that rents have fallen, especially in a small town like Bridport.

“So you are often stuck at the peak figure.

“So it is quite difficult to prove that rents have fallen.

“It is like a chicken and egg situation.

“That’s the main difficulty.

“Rent never seems to go down in a recession because it is all down to evidence and things are just not moving.”

Mr Findlay said that the other problem was that in main streets like East Street the rents are too high for independent shopkeepers.

He added: “You get a national multiple come into the town and they are not too critical about the amount of rent they are going to pay because they have 200 other branches.

“They are not going to be bothered whether they are paying £24 or £25,000 a year because it all comes out in the wash.

“Whereas, to the small private business person it is that much more critical.

“So rents get pushed up because of the national multiples.

“Those in East Street are never going to let to a private tenant because they are too big and the rents too high for the size of the premises.”

Mr Harvey added: “What is putting real pressure on everybody is rents and business rates which we think are still too high and need to come down. Shop rents are unsustainable and crippling.

“If there is no demand, then shops remain empty then landlords are more likely to accept a reduced rent for an empty shop especially if the landlords have got to pay the business rates themselves when they are empty.

“There are more empty than there have been recently.

“But I think Bridport is still a thriving place compared with anywhere else.

“People are coming but they are not spending as much as they could.

“It is tough for the shopkeepers.

“Bridport is just completely different from anywhere else “We must make sure the local authority does not interfere with it, that’s the important point.”