UKHospitality welcomes shadow chancellor’s pledge to scrap business rates

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

Stride made the pledge yesterday (6 October) at the Conservative party conference at Manchester Central.

He told delegates: “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.”

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.”

Nicholls said that reducing the tax burden on hospitality was urgent and needed "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,” Nicholls added.

“Hospitality businesses are being taxed out, with 84,000 job losses since the cost increases in the last Budget.”

UKHospitality has frequently called for the government to lower business rates, fix National Insurance contributions and cut VAT for hospitality as part of its Taxed Out campaign.

A recent survey by CGA by NIQ and Sona reported that nearly half (45%) of hospitality operators have been forced to cut their capital expenditure programmes as a result of rising operational costs.

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