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Petition to Government for Increased Industry Support

Please click here to sign the petition.

Last year many antique and fine art dealers were forced to close their premises as a direct result of high rent and business rate increases, at a faster rate than in previous recessions. While the Chancellor's rethink on the previously tabled increase in business rates shows some sensitivity to the needs of businesses, it does not do enough to help this often overlooked sector.

Antiques.co.uk has created an online petition that will be submitted to the Government to lobby for increased support and encouragement for the industry in this time of need.

Please consider signing the petition. Your voice will go a long way to helping the industry as a whole and help keep the Antiques and Fine Art trade healthy and stable.

Once we have obtained as many signatures as possible we shall be delivering this petition to George Osborne and David Laws to gain their responses.

To submit your signature and comments to the petition, simply click here: Sign the Petition

A copy of the original letter as it appeared in The Times can be viewed here, whilst the current petition signatories can be viewed below.

There are currently 1102 signatures on the petition.

Name	Company	Date Signed	Comments
Sophie Baillon	RASTRILLO PORTOBELLO	02/03/11
Janice Easterby		31/01/11
linda morley		26/01/11	if there stoped puting prices up there wood not be so meney shops closing down . then siting empty . and no money coming in . it wood be beter having some money rother than noon .
John Rogers	Goldsmiths University	18/01/11	It is all too easy to overlook how many people are dependent on this trade. We are all custodians of the 'Cultural Memory' (Carol Duncan, The Art Musuem as Ritual 1995) that the objects and art works within our museums, auction houses, galleries and antique shops constitute.
Martin DONALDSON		21/12/10
Jay King		05/12/10
Mark Edwards		14/11/10	Support the small man
kate matthews	Aberdeen Antique Centre	17/10/10
jill brookshaw		03/10/10	stand by your beleives mate
Arnie Gobel		24/09/10	It is a disgrace how our government treats an industry sector which helps to preserve a part of our national heritage
Ross Samson	Samsons Joinery	23/09/10	Buying antiques is more than recycling, it is a way of appreciating and preserving our historical and cultural heritage. Of course, it isn't as good as commissioning new arts & crafts furniture from me!
Liam Mathers		11/09/10	I think it is simply unfair and counter to public policy for the Government to encourage reuse and recycling while at the same time offering no incentives for the Britsih antiques industry. Just as one example the building industry is zero VAT rated for new build. The Government really should be looking at encouraging the antiques trade and giving serious concideration of how it might do this and its portrayed bit for the environment.
David Rolfe	Rolfey's of Bath	10/09/10	In Bath there used to be over 300 antique shops there are now just 8, this trade is hanging on by its fingertips and without Government intervention it will fall into the abiss.
David Coomber	Pentangelis	03/09/10	I have always found it rather odd that in a society where the rule is to stand on your own two feet, it is acceptable to selectively fund 'the arts' with public money. If there is no public demand for any particular offering from 'the arts', then I see no reason why it should be subsidised so that a minority may enjoy it to the cost of those who do not wish to. Likewise, in my view, the same principle applies to all retailers - that after all is what we are. If the public don't want our goods, then we fail. It is as simple as that! However, let's even it out and stop this selective funding of other projects that are no more deserving than ourselves.
Keith Scott	East Anglian Curios	24/08/10
Daniel Hamilton	DKH Antiques	12/08/10
Rachael Jones		27/07/10	Too many people destroy works of art and wonderful antiques due to lack of knowledge
kenneth phillips		23/07/10	it is time landlords understand that if people abort their leases on property in theses times there are no other punters to take their place, therefore they will have no income at all, which will result in a significant rent void. surely, it is better to get something than nothing. it is time that the landlords and the local authoruties realised this and held back on rent and rate increases to enable people to weather this storm.
Fergus Reid	Smarts	23/07/10	I have given my backing to this protest.
Maureen Cunningham		16/07/10
B.G. NEWTON		11/07/10
Mrs Sheena Granger	Bespoke Auctions	01/07/10
matt stephens		14/06/10
Judi Wood	Megarrys Antiques	25/05/10	The antiques Trade like many small buisnesses. needs help in the present economic climate. It should be remembered that we are helping the economy by recycling and reusing existing resources,we are also employers. Rents,rates and electricity and wages are a huge expenditure, often leaving little resources for buying stock from an often suspicious and over optimistic public. Cash flow can be a real issue for many dealers and this situation is not helped by the difficulty of sourcing bank loans. Our heritage is being held to ransome, and if the present trend coninues, much of our antique heritage will be lost for ever.
Kevin Marshall	ANTIQUES WAREHOUSE	25/05/10
Gianfranco Serra	OUT OF THE ATTIC	25/05/10	I have been trading in Camden Passage for the last 10 years and have moved from gallery to gallery till there was no more galleries to go to due to the infiltration of clothes shops that bring nothing to the area or the residents. It appears to be so obvious a scam in so many cases with the vast increases in rent forcing honest traders out of business or just out of the area after so many years. I have managed to relocate but I can see how difficult and sometimes discouraging that can be. I support this petition and hope somebody eventually will listen to small businesses and take notice of their difficulties.
Martin Beazor	John Beazor and Sons Ltd.,	25/05/10	Small characterful businesses need care and protection
Emma Haw		25/05/10
Camilla Rodwell	The Hunter Gallery	25/05/10
Richard Temple	The Temple Gallery	25/05/10	Connoisseurship, taste and scholarship could be wiped out by trendy, celebrity-obsessed, ignorant popular culture.
Kevin Andrews	Brownhill Insurance Group	25/05/10
James Horne		24/05/10
Margaret Whitaker		17/05/10
MARK WAKELAM	MAW SERVICES	11/05/10	you should get rent free for keeping are heratige going without auctions we wouldent find reare items
Nathan Conroy		09/05/10	Hi, yes I support any thing that helps our heritage which also very much includes Antiques of all value,it also educates us from our past and our values of the past,hope this helps. sincerly Nathan.
Kerri Sant		07/05/10
Peter Vidgeon		26/04/10
Russell Theaker	The Cane & Rush Workshop	21/04/10
harry worth		14/04/10
Mathew Page		12/04/10
Gillian Horsup		10/04/10	Having being evicted from premises in Camden Passage twice, due to redevelopment, I am lucky to have found new premises - Many people have not been so lucky.
Lara Firth		09/04/10
Markus Sterling		06/04/10
Alida Sunderland		04/04/10	As the antiques business is actually an excellent re-cycling outlet which I thought the government was in support of - how about the government start to support these small businesses before the banks and supermarkets take over totally.
Susan Wickens		22/03/10
Penny Avery	Deja Vu	20/03/10	All small shop keepers need support in order to save our town centres.
Les Hall	Malvern Studios	19/03/10
Jeff Hall	Malvern Studios	19/03/10
Margaret de Havilland-Hall		18/03/10	This is a worthwhile cause and must be supported!
David Peters		17/03/10	Any small business needs our support after all most big business has been destroyed by government fiddling.

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Petition to Government for Increased Industry Support