British companies will get state support to help them cope with rising business rates — an unpopular commercial property tax — as the government tries to protect shopping districts that are suffering from soaring inflation and the start of a likely recession.
(Bloomberg) — British companies will get state support to help them cope with rising business rates — an unpopular commercial property tax — as the government tries to protect shopping districts that are suffering from soaring inflation and the start of a likely recession.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt said Thursday that more than £13.6 billion ($16 billion) would be put into a package including a cap on any increase in rates following a revaluation of property prices next year.
Other measures will provide targeted help to small businesses, and specifically companies in the retail and hospitality sectors.
The policies, announced in the Autumn Statement, “are the early Christmas presents many businesses needed” according to Mike Flecknoe from commercial property giant Cushman & Wakefield Plc.
“The money businesses will save through this measure could be put toward hiring or retaining workforce or covering higher energy bills,” he added.
However, some companies said the business rates system still needed deeper reform and complained that the government has dropped plans for an online sales tax that had been raised as a way of helping bricks-and-mortar retailers compete with digital rivals.
“The failure to provide any further relief for our industry today will hit pubs, breweries and their customers extremely hard this winter,” said Emma McClarkin, head of the British Beer and Pub Association.
–With assistance from Katie Linsell.
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