China shop cracks after 116 years
IT has been run by four generations of the same family for 116 years.
Now a historic firm has been forced to close its doors after the SNP’s soaring business rates priced it out of its home. Wm Watson & Sons, known locally as Watsons of Perth, opened on the city’s High Street in 1900 and has attracted generations of people shopping for glassware, tableware, collectables and wedding presents.
But owner Kerr Watson has blamed its demise on the Scottish Government’s big business tax and changing trends.
Mr Watson, great-grandson of the founder William Watson, said yesterday he would join other independent family-run businesses in falling victim to ‘completely unaffordable rates’ when the shop ceases trading at the end of this year. Four long-serving staff will be made redundant.
The closure of Watsons follows the fate earlier this year of department store McEwens of Perth, while in July independent trader McAree Brothers put its Stirling premises up for sale, blaming the large business tax.
Mr Watson said: ‘The rates were the deciding factor.
‘That’s why there are virtually no independent businesses left in the main city centres. They remain in side streets but nobody can afford it in the centre.
‘It’s the same for independent shops in high streets across Scotland.’
Mr Watson, 55, said the firm would pay £40,000 in rates this year, by far its biggest expense.
Businesses whose premises have a rateable value of less than £35,000 can apply for rates relief, but the rateable value of Mr Watson’s shop is £78,500 and thus not eligible.
He said the Scottish Government’s large business supplement had penalised businesses such as his as the tax is based on the size of the property, not the size of the business.
Mr Watson added: ‘Business rates have made a city centre location completely unaffordable for most
‘Completely unaffordable’
independent retailers. We are a small family business – we’re not doing anything like the turnover the national chains do.
‘Business rates in Scotland are higher than in England. Nobody complains about paying a certain amount in rates and taxes but we’d like a level playing field.’
Mr Watson said Perth and Kinross Council had tried to help small businesses through rates relief schemes, but had done nothing for businesses operating from larger properties.
The burden was compounded, he added, by changing tastes and by manufacturers selling online.
He said: ‘The Government should be looking out for independent busi- nesses, but at the end of the day our local MPs are all SNP and the council is all SNP. The council has said it is doing what it can and put money into the small business rates relief. The rateable value of the shop is £78,500, so I didn’t get any help.
‘We were one of the last shops like this in the country to last. All our friends who had similar shops in St Andrews, Aberdeen and Glasgow have closed.’
Mr Watson, who joined the family business in 1981 to work alongside his father Bonar, is a father of three and said he was saddened that the business would not go on to a fifth generation.
Perth and Kinross Council said: ‘Rateable values are set by the independent Scottish Assessors, not Perth and Kinross Council.
‘New rateable values come into effect on April 1, 2017, based on rents assessed at April 1, 2015. Therefore rates due from April 1, 2017 will more realistically reflect the postrecession economic situation.
‘Under the Scottish Government’s Small Business Bonus Scheme, businesses occupying premises where the rateable value is less than £35,000 can apply for rates relief.
‘Additionally, as part of its City Centre Resilience Plan, the council provides further financial support to such retail businesses to assist them to adjust to the changing retail environment, while ensuring Perth remains a fabulous place to shop, eat and spend leisure time in.’