Shepherd Neame business rates appeals save tenants £400k

18-Aug-2014 - Last updated on 19-Aug-2014 at 14:09 GMT

Related tags Business rates Public house Shepherd neame

Licensee Mick Pendergast: 'The rates were almost £4,000 a year, and now I pay around £300'

Shepherd Neame has successfully appealed the business rates of almost a third of its tenanted pubs, providing total savings of over £400,000.

The Faversham-based brewery and pub operator has procured a reduction in business rates for 101 of its 296 tenanted pubs. This has resulted in a total annual saving of £409,700.

Shepherd Neame’s in-house team of chartered surveyors successfully appealed the 2010 Rateable Value for 38 tenanted houses, generating annual savings of £214,575.

Appeals for the other 63 tenanted pubs were successfully lodged by independent Kent firm Porters Chartered Surveyors on behalf of the company, delivering annual savings of £195,125.

Property and services director George Barnes said: “We felt that the rateable values allocated to some of our tenanted properties back in 2010 were not appropriate, and wanted to remove this unfair tax burden on our licensees.”

Small Business Rates Relief

Shepherd Neame has also written to 82 of its tenanted pubs with a rateable value of £12,000 and under, to advise that they may be eligible to receive Small Business Rates Relief.

Mick Pendergast, licensee of the Nags Head in Rochester, Kent, is one licensee to have benefited from from the pub company’s intervention.

He took on the pub in October 2011, just after the brewery had successfully appealed the property’s rateable value. As a result he was able to apply for the relief.

“Before Shepherd Neame got involved, the rates were almost £4,000 a year, and now I pay around £300,” Pendergast said.

“This is my first pub, and I previously worked as a health and safety officer, so I didn’t have any experience in this area. Having the brewery’s support has really helped.”

Flood Relief

The brewery has also written to seven pubs eligible for Flood Relief following last year’s adverse weather conditions. Each individual tenant has to contact their local authority to request the relevant relief.

Barnes added: “We feel it is important to offer our tenants all the support we can, to ensure that they take advantage of all the financial benefits available to them. We are delighted that we have been able to help our tenants save such a significant amount of money.”