“Increasing competition regulation during the digital age will not only be beneficial for consumers. The bricks and mortar stores that have, for the longest time, been negatively impacted by the growing monopoly of tech giants in the retail sector will be able to play on a fairer stage. Philip Hammond is right to not follow the status quo and small businesses need to be given a chance to thrive in their respective markets. While this acknowledgement is a great step towards better competition, which is fundamental in ensuring the market is working to the advantage of consumers, not enough has been done to support the technological evolution of the high street from merely a provider of products and services to a retail destination that rivals our global counterparts. The evolution of the UK high street will be based on their incorporation of new technology, such as in-app payment systems, in-store navigation, smartphone product information displays and general experiential value. What is massively encouraging for a generation of small retailers are the transformative reforms to business rate reliefs, which will act as a huge leg-up for entrepreneurial retailers and family run and regional businesses alike, who will be most affected by this. Retailers will need to adapt not just in targeted reliefs and taxation but by incorporating the readily available technology into stores as soon as possible."