One in four Star pubs secure business rates cut

Gerald Eve has secured reductions for 360 lessees out of Star’s estate of 1,300 pubs, with average reductions of almost 20% or c£2,500 per year.

One in six successful appeals resulted in business rates bills being reduced by over £10,000 a year. The biggest saving secured to date has been £30,000 per year.

Chris Jowsey, Star Pubs & Bars trading director, said: “The savings that a business rates review can achieve for lessees are substantial and can make a significant difference to a pub’s profitability. And when you add in other services and fees linked to a pub’s business rates such as Sky Sports, some water bills and the new late night levy, the real savings are even greater. The delay of the next revaluation by two years to April 2017, makes it even more important for licensees to regularly review their business rate valuations.

“If the same rates of success we are achieving hold true for the rest of the pub industry, then a worryingly high number of licensees are paying more than they should.”

Charles Wilford, who heads the team at Gerald Eve, said: “Star Pubs & Bars’ success rate has been helped by the diligence of the company’s BDMs [business development managers] in compiling detailed and relevant information for the appeals.”

Star said it reviews every pub in its estate twice a year with Gerald Eve to identify whether there has been a material change of circumstance that could have impacted on the site’s rateable value. This has resulted in Star Pubs & Bars lodging 170 new appeals in the last three years.