It's a hospitality-wide problem': night-time traders react to business rates relief plan

"Gyms, local shops, restaurants, nightclubs and pharmacies have criticised the government for not extending business rates support beyond pubs and live music venues. The Treasury announced on Tuesday that every pub and live music venue in England will get 15% off its new business rates bill from 1 April, worth an average of 1,650 for each, with bills frozen in real terms for a further two years."

"However, there was no support announced for other sectors affected by the changes to rates, although there will also be a review of the methodology used to calculate how much hotels should pay alongside a parallel review for pubs. Leading trade bodies said that those overlooked still faced severe challenges. They accused ministers of having suffocated employment opportunities and claim the decision to focus help just on pubs was simply outrageous."

"UKHospitality, which represents thousands of restaurants, pubs, hotels and cafes, said: The rising cost of doing business and business rates increases are a hospitality-wide problem that needs a hospitality-wide solution. Its chair, Kate Nicholls, said: The reality remains that we still have restaurants and hotels facing severe challenges from successive [chancellor's] budgets. She said that without substantive solutions that genuinely reduce their costs those businesses would face increasingly tough decisions on business viability, jobs and prices for consumers."

The Treasury will give every pub and live music venue in England 15% off its new business rates bill from 1 April, averaging £1,650 per venue, and freeze bills in real terms for two further years. No comparable support was announced for gyms, local shops, restaurants, nightclubs, pharmacies or other affected businesses, though the methodology for hotel rate calculations will be reviewed alongside a parallel review for pubs. Leading trade bodies warned that overlooked sectors face severe challenges, citing rising business rates, VAT, alcohol duty, employment costs and licensing fees and warning of threats to jobs and viability.

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