Arndale boss: Rates are crippling the town centre
Business fees leaving retail flag ship‘ struggling to fill units’
ACCRINGTON Arndale Centre bosses have called for an overhaul of business rates to help the ‘suffering’ town centre. A spokesman for the firm which
owns the indoor shopping centre said they are facing ‘big problems’ - and that rates are ‘restricting retail coming into Accrington’.
He said: “We are working very closely with the council to try and reignite the retail in Accrington which is suffering significantly as everyone knows.
“From our perspective, a big problem relates to rate payments which are not representative of the market conditions and are themselves restricting retail coming into Accrington, which are very difficult to find anyway.”
ACCRINGTON Arndale Centre bosses have called for an overhaul of business rates to help the ‘suffering’ town centre and attract more tenants.
Swalows Assets SA and Glanmore Portfolio Management SA, trading as Arndale Centre Holdings, say there are ‘big problems’ with the current level because they are ‘restricting retail coming into Accrington’.
Their rallying call comes five months after a winding-up petition was launched by Hyndburn Council against the owners to reclaim nearly £226,000 in unpaid business rates.
An asset manager for Swalows Assets SA and Glanmore Portfolio Management SA told the Observer that the ‘matter has been resolved’ and that ‘monies are due to be paid and will be paid’.
He has now called for support from the council to address the level of business rates which leave the Arndale Centre with ‘almost negligible’ rental income and struggling to attract new businesses.
He said: “We are working very closely with the council to try and reignite the retail in Accrington which is suffering signifi
cantly as everyone knows.
“From our perspective, a big problem relates to rate payments which are not representative of the market conditions and are themselves restricting retail coming into Accrington, which are very difficult to find any way.
“With the local authority we have to find a way to reduce the rating liability in the town centre because it gets to a stage where the rates payable the exceed service charges and in many cases the rent which is almost negligible.”
Hyndburn council said business rates are set independently by the Valuation Office and there are ‘channels available to them to lodge an appeal’.
A spokesperson said: “The Council does not comment on individual cases, but what I can say is that the authority has a duty to collect rates from all ratepayers across the board, ranging from big corporate organisations through to individual householders.
“In the case of business rates, these are set independently by the Valuation Office.
“If a business feels that the level of rates is wrong, then there are channels available to them to lodge an appeal with the Valuation Office.
“The council does not set the rates, we simply collect them.
“Where rates are unpaid we take all available steps, including legal action, to ensure that they are recovered.
“We adopt a fair and consistent position on this and we essentially take the same approach to businesses as we do for individual taxpayers.”
The council lodged an insolvency petition in February against Swalows Assets SA and Glanmore Portfolio Management SA after the companies owed £225,810.39 in unpaid business rates and costs of £4,000.
A court hearing that the companies are registered in the British Virgin Islands under a French corporate banner.
Council leader Miles Parkinson has now told the Observer that insolvency proceedings are still ongoing and that the owners are set to return to court later this month.
He said: “The Judge at the last hearing said it will probably be resolved in the next two weeks.
“I am hopeful. They know what they need to do. We are acting on behalf of the government collecting business rates.
“I thought it would have been put behind us some time ago. It’s disappointing but I hope that the managers of the Arndale resolve the matter as quickly as possible and we can get on with other issues.”
» Long-standing traders leave Accrington Market Hall. See page 11.