Business Rates

Government unveils £300m business rate relief fund

[author title=”Tom Davis” image=”http://”][/author]The government has helped soften the blow of April’s business rate revaluation with a £300m relief fund for local councils. The announcement was made by chancellor Philip Hammond at today’s Spring Budget, in which he said business rates raise £25bn each year – all of which, by…

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Budget announced: Self employed face insurance hike

Self employed workers will face an increase in National Insurance contributions, the Chancellor Philip Hammond has announced. ‘The self-employed were the biggest losers’, according to IPSE, an organisation representing self-employed and professional freelancers and contractors. There will be a 2 percent increase for self-empoloyed National Insurance Contributions by 2018, and the…

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Brexit strategy ‘must focus on fair deal for consumers’, says BRC

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) has called on the government to put consumers first in the forthcoming Brexit talks. In a letter to Secretary of State for International Trade Liam Fox, the BRC said the government’s strategy must focus on finding opportunities for lowering import costs as well as avoiding…

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Garden centre faces “carnage” due to roadworks

A Gloucestershire garden centre is facing turmoil due to resurfacing road works closing off the business to the public. Tewkesbury Garden Centre has been subject to the A38 roadworks with little or no notice according to Rachel Gallagher, the manager. “The roadworks have hit our trade hard with next to nothing coming through…

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Great British High Street competition open for entries

High streets minister Marcus Jones has called on communities across the country to enter their villages, towns and cities into the Great British High Street competition 2016. For the third year running, the competition celebrates the great work that is being done to revive, adapt and diversify the nation’s high streets…

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Councils fail to use the latest advice on pet shop inspections

Barely half of councils that licence pet shops are using the most up-to-date advice on how to do this, according to a new report from the Ornamental Aquatic Trade Association (OATA). The Association found that at least one of 400 councils did not seem to be aware they were the licensing authority…

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Small business confidence at lowest level in three years

A new survey by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has shown small business confidence was at the lowest level since 2013 from the first quarter of this year. The fall is most noticeable in London and the East of England, but all regions of the UK have seen declines.…

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BIRA welcomes key budget announcements

The British Independent Retailers Association (bira), which has been campaigning on the rates issue since 2011, welcomed key announcements in the Chancellor’s statement. The announcement will take 600,000 premises out of paying rates and benefit a further 250,000 above the threshold. This will help both the 64 percent of shops…

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FSB welcomes changes to Small Business Rates Relief

The Federation of Small Business (FSB) has responded to the announcements made in Chancellor George Osborne’s Budget speech on March 16, 2016. Mike Cherry, policy director at the FSB, said: “In a Budget constrained by both the need to reduce the deficit and the economic outlook, the Chancellor has listened…

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Business rates relief “doubled permanently”

Business rates relief for small businesses will “more than double” during the next budget period. The Chancellor, George Osborne, announced that he was raising the threshold to £15,000 for the lower rate (up from £6,000) and to £51,000 got the higher band (up from £18,000). He said the measures would mean…

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