Welsh hospitality businesses to receive 30% business rates cut
The Welsh Government say this is the first step in breathing life back into the high street
Hospitality and leisure businesses across Wales are to receive a 30% cut in their business rates from tomorrow, as the Welsh Government seeks to bring new life to the country's high streets.
The permanent reduction will apply to eligible properties with a rateable value below £51,000, including pubs, restaurants, cafés, hotels, gyms, cinemas and other leisure venues.
First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth said the policy had been promised in Plaid Cymru's election manifesto and was being delivered within the government's first few months in office.
The aim, he said, was to bring “a new energy, a new vibrancy to our high streets”, while supporting food, drink and leisure businesses.
Mr ap Iorwerth acknowledged the measure was “never a silver bullet”, but said it represented “a major step forward”.
He said the government also needed to consider the wider role of high streets, with a taskforce examining how businesses and town centres could be supported.
“This is not just a high street for the sake of it”, he said. “This is people's communities. This is the energy”.
He warned that without support for businesses, opportunities for people to meet and socialise could disappear.
The Welsh Government says the 30% reduction will be permanent and fully funded through changes to the business rates system.
Mr ap Iorwerth said the government had moved “pretty swiftly” and expected the measure to be “broadly welcomed right across Wales”.
Phil Newbould, landlord of The Radyr Tap in Cardiff, where First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth visited to announce the changes, said the industry was “very grateful” for the cut.
He said it would provide businesses with greater certainty, but warned that rising costs continued to put pressure on pubs.
“Costs are rising across the board”, he said, pointing to the minimum wage, National Insurance and business rates.
For his business, the change will be worth just under £3,000 a year. However, Mr Newbould said a reduction in VAT from 20% to 5% would be worth around £75,000.
“There is space to do more”, he said, arguing that the Welsh Government should put pressure on the UK Government over VAT.