Skyrocketing rents have made it increasingly difficult for retailers and other small businesses to continue to operate in Amsterdam, MKB-Nederland, a group that represents Dutch SMEs, has said.
MKB's Netherlands branch said that it plans to inform small to medium sized businesses about their rental rights so that they can take action and negotiate better.
According to Bart Drenth, president of MKB-Amsterdam, it's often specialist shops that find the going toughest when rising rents are an issue.
"The city starts to miss that extra colour," he said. "Think of that special bookstore, that business with sheet music or that nice little restaurant."
The Broader Picture
MKB-Amsterdam is hosting a meeting on 11 September to inform businesses about tenancy law, and is also reaching out to Dutch businesses outside the capital to get a better picture of the situation across The Netherlands.
"In addition to informing entrepreneurs about their rights, I would also like to call on consumers to think carefully about what role they can play," Drenth added.
"We also want to meet with real estate owners, trade associations and bring the municipality around the table to discuss what we can do to this growing problem."
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
