Nottinghamshire licensee sees 60% business rate cut after pub becomes restaurant
Bruce Elliott-Bateman, of the Mussel and Crab in Tuxford, battled for a reduction in his rates for seven years after they hiked from £6,000 to £35,000 a year in 2005.
However, after employing property consultancy firm CBRE and being re-classified as a restaurant, Elliot-Bateman’s rates were reduced to £15,000, backdated to 2005, which he said will save him £250,000 before his rates valuation.
The rateable value of a restaurant is based on the floor area of the venue, rather than its annual turnover as with a pub.
Elliott-Bateman said: “We have pub hours and a pub license, but they could have called me a lighthouse if they wanted as long as it reduced my rates.
“People who come here might have a drink to start with, but then they’ll have a meal so we were lucky to get around it like that.”
'Rogues'
However, he warned that there are “a lot of rogues” who will only reduce rates by around 5%.
“It was a seven-year learning curve. Licensees need to be careful who they get to do it because if they mess it up you can’t apply for a reduction again for five years,” he added.
Better Rates for Pubs
The Publican's Morning Advertiser is backing the Better Rates for Pubs campaign, to challenge the burden of business rates on Britain's pubs.
A recent PMA survey found that more than half (51%) of publicans described the payments as having a ‘major impact’ on their pub’s profitability. Close to half (45%) said that rates accounted for between 6% and 10% of their turnover, while nearly one in three said they took up more than 10%.
