Business Rates
This coverage examines business rates policy and its implications for the UK retail sector. Reporting focuses on government decisions, reforms, rate relief measures, and their impact on store operations, profitability, and investment decisions. Tailored for retail executives and managers, it provides analysis to help navigate costs, advocate for change, and plan effectively in response to fiscal pressures.
-
Mar- 2019 -1 MarchGovernment
Business rates appeals drop under ‘complicated’ system
Businesses are struggling with the new ‘check challenge appeal’ (CCA) business rates appeals system, according to rating experts at Colliers International, commercial real estate agency and consultancy. New figures released by the government show that in the 21 months between 1 April 2017, when the new system for appealing against…
Read More » -
Feb- 2019 -21 FebruaryGovernment
MPs call for business rates reform to save high street
The housing, communities and local government committee has said “dated policies” and an “unfair tax regime” needed reforming to allow high streets and town centres to flourish in its report into the future of the UK high street. The report highlighted the disparity between taxes paid by bricks-and-mortar retailers and…
Read More » -
12 FebruaryHigh Street
West End retailers face £45m rates hike in April
Retailers located in London’s West End are set to face a £45m rates tax increase in April, according to a report by real estate advisor Altus Group. Business rates help announced at the Autumn Budget last year, which promised to slash bills by a third for high street business in…
Read More » -
11 FebruaryHigh Street
18,722 retail jobs lost or at risk since Christmas day
Some 18,722 retail staff, 400 every single day, have either been made redundant or have had their jobs threatened since Christmas day, according to new data from real estate data service Altus. Oddbins, Patisserie Valerie, Greenwoods, Chapelle, tReds and HMV have all entered administration, with the music and film retailer…
Read More » -
1 FebruaryHigh Street
Oddbins falls into administration
Off licence chain Oddbins has fallen into administration with parent company European Food Brokers (EFB) blaming the deterioration of the high street, Brexit and “economic uncertainty”. Duff & Phelps has been appointed to run the business and help it to find a buyer. Oddbins has 45 outlets across the UK…
Read More » -
1 FebruaryGovernment
MPs launch business rates inquiry
The Treasury Committee has launched a new inquiry into business rates to scrutinise how government policy has impacted high street businesses. The committee will examine how business rates policy has changed, including business rates retention, alternatives to property-based taxes, such as the proposed digital services tax. Nicky Morgan MP, chair…
Read More » -
Jan- 2019 -29 JanuaryAnalysis
The UK’s high street woes
There are few sectors where the effects of the faltering UK economy have been more starkly visible than the retail sector. It seems that every day the media presents another story about a high street name facing financial difficulty. There are a multitude of factors playing into the softening consumer…
Read More » -
28 JanuaryEconomy
Online retail tax could be unlawful under EU rules, Treasury warns
The government has said taxing online giants, like Amazon, through a sales tax could be illegal under EU rules. Under European Union State aid rules it is illegal for EU countries to give financial advantage to some companies and not others in a way which could distort fair competition. The…
Read More » -
24 JanuaryPeople Moves
Around 70,000 retail jobs lost in Q4, report finds
The total number of employees working in retail was down 2.2%, equivalent to around 70,000 jobs, on Q4 2017 an industry report has found. The British Retail Consortium’s (BRC) Retail Employment Monitor also found that reductions in hours similar for full-time and part-time contracts as total hours fell by 2.8%.…
Read More » -
21 JanuaryHigh Street
Chapelle enters administration
Jewellery and watch retailer Chapelle has entered into administration, four years after it was sold to HMV owners Hilco UK. Philip Duffy and Sarah Bell of accountancy firm Duff & Phelps have been appointed as administrators of both Mortimer Management Group and The Jewellery Outlet, which makes up Chapelle. The…
Read More »
