Sector Welcomes Shadow Chancellor’s Pledge To Abolish Business Rates

UKHospitality has welcomed a policy announcement by shadow chancellor Mel Stride to abolish business rates for pubs and shops.

The shadow chancellor made the pledge yesterday (6 October) at the Conservative party conference at Manchester Central.

In his address to the conference, he said: “Under Labour, many have seen their business rates double. We need to get business rates down. In fact, we need to go further. Much, much, further.

“So today I can announce that as a direct result of getting public spending under control, a future Conservative government will completely abolish business rates for shops and pubs on our high streets

“For controlling spending is not an end in itself, it wills the means, it gets the taxman off your back – it sets some of the hardest working people in our country free.”

Welcoming the pledge Kate Nicholls, Chair of UKHospitality, said: “The business rates system is completely broken, with hospitality paying billions more than its fair share for decades.

“This is welcome recognition from the Shadow Chancellor of the need to reform the business rates system, as well as the need to prioritise and back our high streets to drive growth, attract investment and support our communities.

“Reducing the tax burden on hospitality is urgent, and that needs to start at the Budget with the maximum possible business rates discount applied to all hospitality properties under £500,000 rateable value.

“This maximum discount should be implemented alongside a commitment that no hospitality property above £500,000 rateable value pays more in rates.

“Hospitality businesses are being taxed out, with 84,000 job losses since the cost increases in the last Budget. The November Budget needs to lower business rates, fix NICs and cut VAT.”

Dee Corsi, Chair of High Streets UK,
“Today’s announcement is a welcome recognition of the pressures facing our high streets. Scrapping business rates for smaller retailers, pubs and hospitality businesses would provide vital relief to thousands of operators and could help reinvigorate town and city centres across the country.

“However, as the voice of flagship high street destinations across the UK, High Streets UK has long warned that government plans to introduce a new ‘super tax’ higher multiplier will result in store closures, cost jobs, jeopardise investment and lead to higher prices for consumers.

“Our high streets work in a delicate ecosystem, with retailers trading cheek by jowl with hospitality and leisure operators. These businesses do not trade in isolation, but depend on each other to drive footfall, spend, and create a cohesive high street destination.

“With the Budget just two months away, an exemption for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses of all sizes is now urgently necessary if the Government is to avoid undercutting its own growth ambitions.”