There’s something rotten in the state of the British high street: what links William Shakespeare and UK business rates?

On the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, and three days before the 2016 Budget, what would the bard have made of how we treat the nation’s small businesses?

The time — 1601. Queen Elizabeth I is on the throne of England. William Shakespeare is working on a new play — ‘The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark’.

The scene — the bustling high street in the market town of Stratford. Small businesses ruled the high street, and to an extent, the town itself — tradesmen and shopkeepers were economically powerful, and were often appointed town councillors or officials.

This is the context in which business rates — the business tax based on property rental value rather than turnover, which still exist today — were founded, in the Poor Law of 1601. These rates made sense in Elizabethan England — but they don’t now. The ins and outs of how this tax works have barely changed over four centuries — but the world around it is almost unrecognisable.

Fast forward 415 years to the present day, and another Elizabeth is on the throne. In a production of Hamlet on the London stage late last year, Benedict Cumberbatch had to tell off punters for taking selfies and filming him on their phones from the front row. This is the digital age, dominated by internet-based multinationals who don’t require a physical presence to make billions.

Thanks to the 1601 business rates system, Amazon — who took £5.3bn in UK sales in 2014 — are estimated to pay just £10m annually in business rates, while a small business with a six-figure turnover typically pays tens of thousands. A hair salon I spoke to in Richmond, for example, are hit by a £36,000 business rates bill annually. Once you work out the maths at play, the inequality is plain: while small businesses are paying in the range of 5–10% of annual turnover in business rates, Amazon pays less than 0.2%.

We know small businesses aren’t happy with the status quo. Business rates topped the list of changes they’d like to see in George Osborne’s budget on Wednesday in our poll of nearly 400 small businesses, above late payments and Employment Allowance. And nearly 60% of respondents felt that the Chancellor doesn’t take their concerns into account when drawing up the budget — a staggering number when you consider the fact that these small business heroes create 2/3 of all new jobs in the UK.

This ancient system is killing the great British high street — in Shakespeare’s day, the pride and glory of the town.

What would Will have made of it all? Not only did Shakespeare have business acumen in spades — he bought a 25% stake in the Globe theatre when it was built, which effectively made him rich — he also knew the value of an honest trade. His father John was a successful glovemaker and wool trader, and back then this profession commanded him a lot of power and respect — he was appointed town chamberlain. Will understood the importance of the passion of small business owners — a passion that fuelled the economy then as it does now: ‘To business that we love we rise betime, And go to’t with delight.’ (Anthony and Cleopatra IV.iv)

So come on, George: let the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death also be the death of this archaic, punitive system that risks pummeling our beloved small businesses — the foundation of the high street, in 1601 as in 2016 — into extinction.

To all small and medium business owners out there — how important is an overhaul of business rates to you? Let me know via Twitter: Stephen Kelly