Business Rates
We provide essential coverage of business rates policy and reform, and how it impacts operators across the UK foodservice and hospitality sector. From government relief schemes and revaluation updates to lobbying efforts led by UKHospitality and industry coalitions, this captures the key developments influencing site viability and cost pressures. Whether you run a single high-street restaurant or oversee a multi-site pub or catering group, we explain how changes to the business rates system affect your bottom line, and what you need to know to plan ahead.
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Oct- 2019 -31 OctoberGovernment
Treasury Committee urges MPs to reform ‘broken’ business rates
The government has been urged to fix the “broken” business rates system as it is continuing to affect high street retailers, a Treasury committee has said. An influential group of MPs has asked the government to examine alternatives to property tax, which puts more pressure on high street retailers than…
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10 OctoberCafes and Coffee Shops
Pret A Manger turnover hits £710m in 2018
Sandwich shop chain Pret A Manger saw turnover increase to £710m for its UK business in 2018. The group said its UK business has a “good performance” despite the “challenging market of political uncertainty”, and significant increases in business rates. However, according to reports filed with Companies House the sandwich…
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Sep- 2019 -23 SeptemberBusiness
Bailiffs visit 310 premises a day over business rates, study finds
Councils across England are sending bailiffs to 310 companies a day over business rates arrears, new figures show. The investigation by the real estate adviser Altus Group revealed that, during the last financial year, for 2018/19, over 78,000 non-domestic properties from shops to restaurants to pubs to factories to offices…
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Aug- 2019 -28 AugustTrade Associations
UKH calls for sector support ahead of Spending Review
Ahead of the Spending Review, UKHospitality has called on the government to “act decisively” to support hospitality and tourism. UKH has identified four key areas in which the government spending can support the country’s hospitality industry: Business rates UKH said the government can begin to fix the broken business rates…
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1 AugustAnalysis
Who now thinks Byron was worth £100m?
There was a time when Byron was all the rage. Perhaps the earliest successful British recreation of the exploding American ‘posh burger’ trend, it struck a chord with affluent London millennials and quickly became a posterchild for high-growth restaurant businesses in the fast-casual segment. Founded by Tom Byng in 2007…
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Jul- 2019 -29 JulyRestaurants
Byron’s earnings down to £500,000
Restaurant chain Byron Burgers has reported a sharp decline in adjusted earnings for the year ending 24 June 2018. Adjusted EBITDA fell to £500,000, compared with £4.7m for the same period last in 2017. Results were impacted by company voluntary arrangements (CVA) which were agreed in January 2018, allowing the…
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22 JulyPubs and Bars
40 pub closures a month in 2019, study finds
Around 40 pubs a month, a total of 235, have closed since the start of the year according to the real estate adviser, Altus Group. According to the research the rate at which pubs are vanishing either being demolished or converted into other types of use such as homes and…
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Jun- 2019 -5 JuneAdvice
Living the dream?
I always dreamed of running a pub, greeting the regulars with a smile, a quip and their favourite tipple. After more than 30 years of handling debt recovery work for the licensed trade, I can see that the reality is very different. It is not an easy life. For many,…
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Apr- 2019 -23 AprilBusiness
British communities lost 914 pubs in 2018
During the 2018 calendar year, a total of 914 pubs closed down according to real estate advisor Altus Group’s annual business rates review, which is set to be released this week. On 1 January 2019 the total number of pubs in England and Wales, liable for business rates, fell to…
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1 AprilBusiness
Shops, pubs and restaurants to get £500m tax reprieve
Small firms on England’s embattled high streets are set to share in half a billion pounds worth of tax cuts as business rates bills are slashed, real estate adviser Altus Group has said. The government announced a business rates discount scheme for small sized high street properties in England which…
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