THIS week’s u-turn on a five per cent hike in business rates has brought relief to struggling Bridgnorth businesses who feared it could send them under. But they still feel both the government and the local council have not gone far enough.
They say the rate should have been frozen, given the current economic climate, and the new unitary council should spend money helping them.
The rise would have seen the average rate for Bridgnorth businesses jump from £4,401 to £4,621, and been the “final straw” for some.
Now there is some reprieve with the rise brought down to two per cent this year and three per cent next year by the government.
MP Phillip Dunne said he had been contacted by two desperate Bridgnorth companies after the rates demand came through their doors this week.
“One, a catering firm based just outside Bridgnorth, told me ‘this is the final straw’. They were faced with the real possibility of going into liquidation and laying off 42 employees,” he said.
“I welcome the u-turn but it’s still very small beer, more so because most businesses in Bridgnorth will be losing their transitional relief which stops this year. I will be writing to the chief executive of the new unitary authority to see if they have any discretionary resources they can use to take some of the burden from local businesses.”
Businessman Bradley Burn who runs Bradleys¹ Tannery on Stanley Lane, Bridgnorth, said: “It’s bad enough paying what we do now, with nothing to show for it. I have a yard with no lighting and no bins and am expected to pay £7,000 a year. The government gets £50,000 a year from this little row of buildings.
“It goes back to the council and there is nothing to show for it. We all pay for our bins to be emptied and that¹s gone up by a third since it went out to the French company. It’s a big expense for small companies in this day and age. The council could do more to help.”
Richard Stillwell of Bridgnorth Print Co in Whitburn Street, said: “What I think is absolutely disgraceful is that the council, which gets this money back off the government, doesn¹t use a penny of it to help local businesses.
“A lot of traders with a lot of floorspace will find even this increase a cause for concern, especially those having to pay to have all their waste recycled. It all adds up. It’s another nail in the coffin for new businesses trying to set up.”
Former head of Bridgnorth Chamber of Commerce, optician Wayne Vernon, said: “Everybody has got a drop in turnover which affects profit and rates affect net profit.
“For some that are struggling it will make the difference between them surviving and going under. The government says it is trying to promote business but then doing exactly the opposite.”