• AS Camden traders, we are all in a very precarious position and we are all aware of each others worries and stresses, it’s a terrible time.

We are writing to you in the hope that you can help small businesses survive in the Camden area as well as the iconic Camden Market which helps businesses to thrive all over Camden Town with nightclubs, bars, restaurants, coffee shops, music venues.

The reputation of Camden Town as a tourist hotspot depends very largely on keeping Camden Market open yet Camden traders are in serious danger of not being able to reopen their businesses.

The knock-on effect of the closure of Camden Market will be a very serious one indeed and create a significant ripple effect across the whole of the borough.

Some huge gaps and cracks are present in the current coronavirus rescue packages. The traders hope that you can appeal to Camden Council to help us to receive each a business rate account number for our shops in the market.

Any small businesses that do not pay business rates directly to the council are not eligible for grants – any grants – from the 10k to the 25k. Nothing at all.

Camden Market traders pay their business rates to the landlord who, in turn, pays business rates to the council.

The flaw in this system is that no Camden Market trader can get either of the grants on offer: 1. Small business grant funding of £1,000 for all business in receipt of business rate relief; 2. Grant funding of £25k for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses with property with a rateable value between £15k and £51k.

Camden traders lose out on both grants due to the present biased system of indirect rate-paying.

We appeal now for Camden Council to immediately issue a business rate account number to each and every Camden Market trader who does not pay business rates directly, but indirectly, so that they can claim the grants that are rightfully theirs.

CAMDEN TRADER COMMITTEE