Let me get straight to it.
Being an independent business is bloody hard. It’s early mornings, late nights, broken equipment, the odd tear (usually when you’ve just mopped the floor), and constantly walking the tightrope between passion and profitability. But I wouldn’t swap it for the world.
Why? Because every pound spent with us stays here. It’s not lining the pockets of shareholders in Seattle or disappearing through some slippery tax loop in Luxembourg. It’s going back into the shop you love, the team you chat with, the cheesemakers we champion, and the wider community we’re proud to be part of.
And here’s the thing. It’s not just feel-good fluff. It’s proven. Studies show that around 63p to 70p of every £1 spent with an independent business stays in the local economy. Compare that to just 10 to 15p when you spend it with a chain or online giant. That’s a massive difference. It’s money that cycles through wages, local suppliers, tradespeople, and other independents again and again.
Take this year. We made enough money to reinvest properly. Not into yachts or scale-up consultants, but into refining how we work. We installed an industrial dishwasher, supplied by Hopper, an independent business that grafts just as hard as we do. The electrics? Done by Cambridge Electric, another small firm. Our Stamford shop’s new awning? Sourced and soon to be installed by a local blinds and awnings company. Real people. Real families. Real livelihoods. Every penny of that cash stayed in our economy. That’s the buy independent difference.
And let’s not forget how we generate that money in the first place. All our cheese is British. Sourced from makers who milk the cows, turn the curds, and age the wheels. Families who, just like us, are more likely to put those profits back into their farms, their villages, and their communities.
Now let’s take a look at what the other side’s doing.
Amazon, for example. In 2020, Amazon’s Luxembourg-based operation, the one that handles sales for the UK and most of Europe, raked in €44 billion in revenue. It reported a €1.2 billion loss and paid zero corporation tax. In fact, it claimed €56 million in tax credits. You read that right. Forty-four billion through the tills and not a penny paid in profit tax. Why? Because they route UK sales through a tax-friendly jurisdiction, sidestepping the taxman while undercutting independents.
Or take Starbucks. By 2012, they’d made over £3 billion in UK sales, and yet somehow managed to pay virtually no UK corporation tax for three years in a row. How? Royalty payments to a Dutch company. Bean purchases through Switzerland. Clever structures. All legal. All designed to move cash out of the UK, fast.
If that makes you feel a bit sick, good. Because here’s the truth.
You don’t have to wait for the government to do something. You can.
Vote with your wallet. Buy less from the giants. Buy better from the independents.
Don’t fall for the trap of convenience. That 10pm Amazon click that shows up the next day? Is that convenience really worth betraying your principles? Could that extra ten-minute walk to get a coffee from someone who knows your name be a better start to your day than another identical cup from a chain that ships its profits overseas?
Let’s not forget. Independent businesses are the UK’s biggest private sector employer. Small businesses, those with fewer than 50 employees, make up over 99% of all UK businesses and employ around 13 million people. That’s half the private sector workforce. And when you spend with us, you’re supporting them. Not billion-dollar companies with tax offices in the Cayman Islands.
At Rennet & Rind, we’ll keep banging this drum. Not because it’s easy, but because it’s right.
We’re not just selling cheese. We’re proving what an independent business can be.