A shoe shop which continued trading despite being hit by a bomb during the Second World War is closing after 112 years, claiming Labour’s Budget was the final straw.
AG Meek said the store in Cardiff had been defeated by rising wage costs after being loved by generations of families who visited the shop which opened in 1913.
The shop was hit by a Luftwaffe bomb in 1941 but the owners refused to give in and opened a new store just a few doors down away from the bombed ruins.
However, bosses said changes to national insurance contributions and business rates announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves last October have now left it ‘unsustainable’.
David Meek, chief executive of the independent retailer, said economic conditions meant the shop had to finally close – describing the Budget as a ‘disaster’ for them.
He said: ‘Increased cost for running a business that does not have a high turnover has unfortunately forced our closure. The last Budget was an absolute stinker for a business of our size.
‘Smaller businesses have been protected by the various tax increases, but we have 24 staff, and increases in national insurance have caused a lot of problems.
‘Our national insurance on one shop and our business rates are increasing by £5,000 a year each from April and this is unsustainable.
AG Meek on Albany Street in Cardiff is closing after 112 years of trading, blaming the Budget
The shop was hit by a Luftwaffe bomb in the Second World War in 1941 (above), but the owners refused to give in and opened a new store just a few doors down away from the bombed ruins
AG Meek chief executive David Meek said economic conditions meant the shop had to shut
‘I have held off hoping things would improve, but the recent budget is a disaster for small businesses employing lots of part time staff like ours.’
The store on Albany Road was originally founded by Mr Meek’s grandfather Albert George Meek in 1913 and branches were later opened in Cwmbran, Newport and Gloucester, as well as in Cardiff city centre.
In the decade that followed, Albert’s two sons took over the running of the business and sold ‘Meek’s Sets’ of matching shoes, bags and gloves.
Mr Meek said: ‘Albany Road used to be thriving with independent businesses, but they’ve since closed, and virtually every shop is becoming either a café or a restaurant.
‘Nationally, shoe retailers are an endangered species. We’ve tried to buck that trend over the years, but we feel the same pressures that everybody else does.’
Mr Meek said staff would not be made redundant and instead would be offered jobs at the store’s city centre branch.
AG Meek also last week confirmed earlier this month that it was closing its Gloucester store which had stood in the city for 65 years.
AG Meek became known for selling ‘Meek’s Sets’ of matching shoes, bags and gloves
The AG Meek store on Albany Road in Cardiff was originally founded in 1913
That means the branches in Cwmbran, Newport and Cardiff city centre are all that now remain.
It comes after the rate of employer national insurance contributions (NICs) increased from 13.8 per cent to 15 per cent on April 6.
At the same time, firms will also now pay more because the Government lowered the salary threshold at which companies start paying NICs from £9,100 to £5,000.
Business have also been hit by a 6.7 per cent increase in the national minimum wage to £12.21, which came in on April 1.
