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My name is Arun Kumar, and I am 37 years old. I currently live in Harrow, London. I own a small convenience store in Harrow. I opened the shop eight years ago. I sell groceries, fresh bread, Indian spices, rice, dal, fresh vegetables, meat products, alcohol, beer, and some traditional sweets. In the beginning, business was going quite well. Local customers used to come because they knew me, and I always tried to keep my prices competitive. But over the years, running the shop became more and more difficult. The shop rent is £1,250 per month. On top of that, utility bills, business rates, taxes, and insurance come to around £550–650 every month. The shop is open from 7:00 in the morning until 8:00 in the evening, and on Saturdays until 9:00 pm. I stand behind the counter almost every single day. Finding a reliable employee in Harrow is very difficult. The people I hired before either left quickly or did not meet my expectations. Now I mostly work alone, and sometimes my brother helps me. One of the biggest problems in recent years has been shoplifting. People steal alcohol, expensive cigarettes, energy drinks, and food items. Because of this, I was losing around £850–1,100 worth of stock every month. For a small shop, this is a very big loss. Competition has also become very strong. There is Tesco Express and Sainsbury’s Local nearby, and Aldi and Lidl are not far away. Many people have started ordering groceries through Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Tesco delivery services. Meanwhile, I continued spending 12–13 hours every day in my shop. Sometimes after work, I had almost no energy left to spend proper time with my wife and children. Two years ago, I had to replace my refrigeration equipment, which created a debt of £7,500. Later, when expenses increased and sales became less stable, I had to borrow more money to keep paying my suppliers. At the moment, my total debts and commitments are around £18,500, with monthly repayments of more than £900. Every morning, I
