AS SHOPS in Witney continue to reel from the blow of rates rises, the owner of a menswear store closing after 34 years fears it could be the start of a domino effect.

Domino Menswear is preparing to leave Witney for Abingdon after more than three decades over concerns of being priced out of the high street.

The Corn Street business has been suffering recently, with the April rise in rates proving to be the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Other independents in the town have raised similar concerns about the threat the rise poses to the future of the town.

Ian Pilcher, who has worked in the store for more than 30 years, said he remembers a blooming Witney that has been on the decline ever since the financial crisis of 2008.

The 63-year-old said he has observed a vibrant range of businesses disappear over the years, only to be replaced by coffee shops and estate agents.

He said: “When you take the soul out of a place – the soul being its independent retailers – it becomes the same as everywhere else. Just ordinary.

“I live in Witney and I love it here, but you can’t run a business here unless you keep jacking up your prices.

“You can start up a small business like a cleaning or delivery business – but who in their right mind would want to open a retail shop here in Witney? You would have to question the sanity of that person

“I’m really concerned for the future of the town because once one goes it’s a domino effect.”

The rateable value of Domino Menswear, which is used to determine the rates a business pays, rose earlier this year from £10,500 to £19,500. This means the amount the business pays monthly rose from £381 to £544.

Business rates are worked out based on a property’s ‘rateable value’.

This is its open market rental value on April 1, 2015, based on an estimate by the Valuation Office Agency.

This means that business in areas with high rents, such as Witney, suffered some of the largest rises.

Mr Pilcher said that the pressure on small businesses from successive governments has made it impossible to adapt and modify.

He said: “The Government has been strangling small businesses. This goes back to when Labour were last in.

“They say they help but they haven’t really. We’ve helped ourselves through modifying and reinventing – but there’s only so much reinvention you can do without the cash to do it.”

The hardest aspect of leaving the town, for Mr Pilcher, is losing the relationship the store has been building with the community over the past three decades.

He continued: “To leave this place I will feel immensely sad. We’ve served almost four generations of people in this shop. You build up that rapport with people.

"They know you and you know them. You may know where they drink, what football team they support – you become part of the community.

“We’ve sold someone his school uniform, then clothes for his prom – then his wedding – then done the same things for his son.

“People in Witney are really very nice and it’s a shame they will lose somewhere that isn’t high street – somewhere that isn’t multiple. Somewhere that offers a bit of extra choice, somewhere with a bit of service.”

It is, at the moment, unclear exactly when the business will move, but it seems likely this will take place around December. The new business, in Bath Street, Abingdon, may open while the Witney business is still open.

Many businesses in Bath Street have rateable values of less than £10,000.

As Domino leaves, many other businesses remain concerned about their future on the high street.

Rosa Ashby, of florist Rosa Flowers, and Jeanne Chattoe, of Renaissance vintage clothes shop, have both raised serious concerns about their ability to continue in the town follow April’s rise in rates.

West Oxfordshire District Council has said it wants to support small businesses throughout the area.

More than 200 businesses have so far received relief totalling more than £250,000 after new rateable values were introduced in April, but many have still not taken the opportunity to apply for discretionary rate relief awards worth up to £11,500.

The Government has allocated £300m for local authorities to create local discretionary relief schemes to help those affected by the rates rise.