Brentwood Bookshop Chicken and Frog to Close as Rates Nearly Triple

The Chicken and Frog, an independent bookshop in Brentwood that serves families and neurodivergent children, will close in January after its annual business rates jumped from £2,868 in 2024 to £8,435 this year.

Owner Natasha Radford, 53, a former teacher known locally as "Mrs Chicken", said she will leave the town centre after 14 years. She cited a huge rise in bills and business rates, plus footfall so low that she has gone whole days without a single sale.

What do the numbers say about the shop's economics?

Radford said her profit margins were thin. A book she typically bought in at £4.05 would sell for £6.99. The shop, she explained, doesn't get the "deep discounts that the big boys get" because it's independent.

On top of that, her electricity bills have tripled since she first opened. The business rates increase landed on top of that cost pressure, pushing the shop past the point of viability.

Why did rates rise so sharply?

The increase many businesses face stems from the government cutting its temporary 75% relief discount on business rates to 40% in April 2025. Rates are also tied to market rental value, and Radford pointed out this disproportionately affects a town close to London such as Brentwood, where rents run higher.

Radford said communities feel "fragmented" and that allowing hubs to close is a "massive oversight" by the government.

What has the Treasury said?

An HM Treasury spokesperson told the BBC that the autumn Budget gave High Street businesses "more breathing space". Traders will now only pay business rates once their rateable value reaches £18,000, up from the previous £12,000 threshold.

The spokesperson accepted that some areas are "more expensive than others", meaning certain shops won't benefit. Rental value, they added, remains a "commercial decision" between landlords and businesses.

What does the closure mean for the community?

The shop's absence will leave more than empty bookshelves. It runs workshops and provides a sensory space, services that made it a fixture for local families.

Radford said she has been busy since announcing the closure, with customers coming in for a hug and a farewell. "It means the world because running your own business is difficult. It becomes all-consuming," she said. "So, to know that we've had a positive impact on people's lives... it's huge."

Stephanie, a 36-year-old teacher who took her neurodivergent child to the shop, called the news "truly heartbreaking" and an "immense loss" to Brentwood. She described the shop as an "incredible haven" of "knowledge, support and community".

"Natasha and her husband treated everyone who came into their shop as a close friend and went above and beyond to help," Stephanie said. "Her love for children and their wellbeing was felt in every part of that shop and every club and session she ran."

What happens next?

The January closure removes one of Brentwood's few dedicated community hubs, and Radford's figures show why the new £18,000 rates threshold offers little comfort in high-rent commuter towns near London. Without deeper relief tied to local rental values, other independent retailers in similar positions face the same arithmetic.