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Hoteliers in Bristol have warned potentially huge business rate bills could be the “final blow” for some businesses if support isn’t forthcoming.
The Bristol Hoteliers Association (BHA) has joined calls urging the chancellor to take action in the face of “potentially devastating” rises in business rate bills next April.
Trade body UK Hospitality has warned that there could be an “insurmountable” £864m bill and has urged businesses to write letters to their MPs calling for action ahead of next month’s autumn statement.
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BHA is intending to write to local MPs asking for their support ahead of these prospective changes.
Business rates increase in line with inflation based on the Consumer Price Index for the previous September, which stood at 6.7 per cent according to figures from the Office for National Statistics.
Hoteliers in Bristol have warned potentially huge business rate bills could be the “final blow” for some businesses if support isn’t forthcoming – photo: DoubleTree by Hilton Bristol City Centre
Raphael Herzog, BHA chair, said: “UK Hospitality is calling on the chancellor to freeze the business rates multiplier and maintain the business rates relief for hospitality, which has amounted to up to £110,000 per business for each billing year.
“The potential business rates bills next April could be the final blow for some businesses, which is why we fully support UK Hospitality’s calls for the chancellor to extend the current relief measures for a further year.”
Elaborating on the adverse effect of Brexit and the pandemic, Herzog said: “The impact of Brexit, the pandemic-enforced lockdowns and soaring costs, especially around energy, have meant hospitality businesses have had an extremely difficult time over the past few years.”
On the paramount of importance of government relief, he added: “We’ve all been trying so hard to recover from this ‘perfect storm’ but if the chancellor doesn’t take action to support us, I fear that the rug could be pulled from beneath many businesses.”
After experiencing a summer of strong trading, the chair of BHA stressed the importance of maintaining the trend, saying: “We’ve had a fairly strong summer and, overall, we were cautiously optimistic about the future, but right now that looks quite bleak after the new figures from UK Hospitality.”
Main photo: Bristol Hoteliers Association
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