Hotelier’s campaign saves seven rural jobs
Scottish Government makes rates rise U-turn as hospitality sector squeals
A KINTYRE hotel owner is celebrating after the Scottish Government U-turn on business rates.
Last week Nick Fletcher, who runs the Argyll Hotel at Bellochantuy with his partner Ian Cuthbert, employing seven staff, mounted a media campaign when faced with a 338 per cent rise in his business rates.
On Wednesday (February 22) Mr Fletcher said he is relieved that the pressure put on the Scottish Government to show its support for small businesses by reviewing their controversial new business rates plans has paid off.
On Tuesday, Finance Secretary Derek Mackay announced that hewould be capping rates for the hospitality sector at 12.5 per cent, until the government has had time to properly review the Barclay report, which is due to be published in July.
Mr Cuthbert said of the move: ‘We have gone from a 338 per cent increase to a 12.5 per cent increase which is a lot more palatable.
‘It was never about not wanting to pay, it was about wanting to pay a fair price.’
Mr Fletcher said: ‘It’s a vast improvement from where we were.
‘The cap on rates means we can continue to do what we are doing now without damaging the local economy. Yes, it’s more to pay, but it’s a far more sensible figure, which is manageable for us.
‘We have revitalised a previously failing hotel. We felt as though we were being punished for trying to build our small business and support the local economy and Scottish tourism industry.’
The businessmen feared that they may have had to let some of their staff go, saying: ‘The new rate proposed for our hotel was simply unsustainable for us and we feared for the livelihoods of the seven people that depend on us for their income.’
Mr Fletcher was among thousands of business owners who hit out at the proposed changes to the rateable values of non-domestic properties.
Currently, the Argyll Hotel’s rateable value is £11,950, which as the only public house/ hotel in the village with a rateable value of up to £12,500 entitles them to rural rate relief, giving a 50 per cent discount on the levy.
The updated revaluation process gave a rateable value of £27,200, taking them above the rate relief threshold, increasing their rates bill to £12,675.20 – a 338 per cent increase. The Scottish Government carried out a revaluation of the business rates for 2017, the first since 2010, which meant that some businesses, such as the Argyll Hotel, were facing a massive hike in the tax.