Leaders from diverse high street retailers including Sainsbury’s, Marks & Spencer, Ikea and Greggs have all co-signed a letter written by chief executive of the British Retail Consortium Helen Dickinson, calling on the government to fix business rates ahead of the Budget in March.

The letter noted that the business rates system is broken and has become “unsustainable for many retailers”.

It said that “fundamental reform is needed in the medium term” and that in the short term “to meet its ambition to level up every part of England would be by removing downwards phasing of transitional relief”.