LICENSED PROPERTY RATING SPECIALISTS SECURE £35,000 REDUCTION IN BUSINESS RATES FOR CORNISH PUB
Licensed Property Rating specialists have successfully reduced the Rateable Value of an award-winning Cornish pub by £35,000.
The Licensed Premises Business Rates team at Harris Lamb worked alongside St Austell Brewery’s Pandora Inn in Restronguet near Falmouth to appeal against the £145,000 Rateable Value.
Further to the Business Rates system changing to the Check, Challenge, Appeal process in 2017, the procedure to challenge became more complex, requiring Harris Lamb to follow a strict process to lodge an appeal with the Valuation Office on the brewery and publican’s behalf.
Covid-19 restrictions caused additional delays to the process, but subject to a virtual Tribunal over the ether, James Ward was able to successfully secure a reduction, backdated to April 2017.
James said: “We are thrilled to have secured a reduction on the Pandora’s behalf. The new CCA process is more difficult to navigate than the previous appeal journey, but as the Valuation Office Agency were only prepared to offer an unacceptable reduction to Rateable Value £130,000, backdated to 1st April 2017 we had no recourse but to press on to a full-blown appeal to the Valuation Tribunal to seek a valuation closer to a realistic figure for our clients.
“Due to our collaboration with both tenant and brewery and having a full disclosure of all detail regarding the site we were able to clearly demonstrate over-trading by the tenant at the pub, and managed to secure a further £20,000 reduction, resulting in a final figure of £110,000 with effect from 1st April 2017.
“Business rates represent a minefield for many licensed premises and it is often all too easy for them to simply accept the RVs imposed on them by the Valuation Office Agency without seeking advice or taking steps to challenge those. As this success story proves, it is well worth investing the time and energy needed to do so – particularly at a time when the hospitality industry is under such huge pressure from the Pandemic.” he added.
Jim Sloan of St Austell Brewery said: “We are delighted with the outcome of the RV Appeal for the Pandora Inn and grateful to James at Harris Lamb for all his work. It does highlight once again however, the desperate need for the whole Business Rating process to be overhauled. The whole system penalises success and businesses are constantly financially punished by the Valuation Office for being good at what they do.”
Pubs wishing to discuss their Rateable Values and assess whether there is a case to challenge them can contact the team at pubrating@harrislamb.com