Business Rates - help.

[divalou]

Hi there;
We are currently paying an obscene amount for our Business Rates, which are crippling us! I know there are loads of places out there that promise they can get your rates reduced but im sure they will charge a hefty fee.
Im pretty sure there is a way of working out the rateable value of your business. like a formula or something.
Does anyone know what this is?
OR has anyone had any success with one of these companies which claim they can help?
x

 

[Urban Geek]

I have never owned my own shop premises but could you not get the Council to check you are paying the right amount. There are a lot of discounts to be had. Are your premises large cause I think it depends on the square footage how much you have to pay.

Alternatively you could contact Business Link for the Midlands. I am sure someone there could help you clarify things or at least point you in the best direction.

Good luck!

 

[tog]

You may find that you qualify for small business relief - my salon does and it cut my rates in half. It does depend on the square footage of the premises.
Don't waste your money on those companies who call you, they're bound to charge you a cut of what they save you. As Christine says, contact your local council first and they should be able to advise you. Then all you need is a tape measure to work out your square footage which should be fairly straightforward.

 

[fiona wallace]

I know where you're coming from...we had ours reduced recently due to Gordon Brown's assistance for small businesses pledge!

However it still costs £7000 per annum and we still have to pay £1.90 for every bag of rubbish we have uplifted, which is obviously at least one a day!

There is no parking. The street lighting is so bad that we had to have extra lighting installed around our premises.

We pay our water and sewerage rates seperately, so what exactly are we paying for????????????????????????????????????

 

[loulou42]

Hi there, I have just appealed agaist my high business rates, I didnt hold out much hope but they wrote back with 2 weeks and offfered me a reduction off £2700. I was really chuffed it has made a big differnce to me.

 

[Elaine143a]

If your rateable value is under a certain amount (sorry cant remember what it is but your local council will tell you) AND you have only one business premises in your name, then you are entitled to small business rate relief, which can be up to 50%.

It is also worth talking to local businesses to ascertain whether you are all paying similar amounts.

I would personally steer clear of companies that promise you rate reductions. My business partner several years ago signed up for one of these and it cost us well over £700! The reduction we got - BIG FAT ZERO!

 

[divalou]

does anyone actually know how they work the vale out tho as in the sq footage times what....

 

[Urban Geek]

I'd imagine business rates may vary from Council to Council so it would probably be best to call Hereford Council.

 

[tog]

I know where you're coming from...we had ours reduced recently due to Gordon Brown's assistance for small businesses pledge!

However it still costs £7000 per annum and we still have to pay £1.90 for every bag of rubbish we have uplifted, which is obviously at least one a day!

would you be able to save on your rubbish disposal if you recycled? we recently started keeping all our paper waste separate for recycling and now usually have only 1-2 bin bags per week of other waste and it'll work out cheaper next year. I couldn't believe how much salon waste is paper based until I'd started sorting it.

 

[jenny2]

How much, not received my bill yet, going to have a drink now i hve read this. Does any one know how they work there costs and what it is per square foot like mentioned above. I not like this thread no more, off to sulk and count my pennies lol:green:

 

[divalou]

would you be able to save on your rubbish disposal if you recycled? we recently started keeping all our paper waste separate for recycling and now usually have only 1-2 bin bags per week of other waste and it'll work out cheaper next year. I couldn't believe how much salon waste is paper based until I'd started sorting it.

We dont even use the council bins! we got rid of it because it was extortion! We PAY a local Pedi-Cab company to recycle everything we can and then take the bin bags home and put it in our personal rubbish! Its a RIP OFF.

 

[tog]

We dont even use the council bins! we got rid of it because it was extortion! We PAY a local Pedi-Cab company to recycle everything we can and then take the bin bags home and put it in our personal rubbish! Its a RIP OFF.

Brilliant idea! what's a pedi-cab company? I've never come across that before. But if I can find one I'll def initely ask them for a quote, anything not to line the council's pockets.

 

[divalou]

Brilliant idea! what's a pedi-cab company? I've never come across that before. But if I can find one I'll def initely ask them for a quote, anything not to line the council's pockets.

They work in hereford, its their own local business and its a brilliant idea that we support 100%. they do recycling, a courier service and also ferry people around town at night time. Think you'd have to do a bit of scouting to see if there's a similar thing where you are. Or set it up yourself hehe.
anyway we pay abou £3 per bag which is like £3 every 2-3 weeks! and our concscience is clear

 

[marioned]

Shhhh, pretty sure you'd get into trouble from the council taking business waste home and putting it into domestic rubbish. Remember that man that got fined for putting some of his junk mail he had been reading into a lampost bin as he walked by.

 

[sparklybits]

Hi peeps

Thought I would add a little to this thread.

Here in Scotland we have our rates reduced up to 80% in 2008 depending on the size of your property business. And next year 2009 we have 100% reduction.

So I dont have any info on the rest of the UK.:hug:

 

[divalou]

Shhhh, pretty sure you'd get into trouble from the council taking business waste home and putting it into domestic rubbish. Remember that man that got fined for putting some of his junk mail he had been reading into a lampost bin as he walked by.

christ what a joke!

 

[divalou]

Hi peeps

Thought I would add a little to this thread.

Here in Scotland we have our rates reduced up to 80% in 2008 depending on the size of your property business. And next year 2009 we have 100% reduction.

So I dont have any info on the rest of the UK.:hug:

If it wasnt so cold i'd move to scotland!

 

[tog]

They work in hereford, its their own local business and its a brilliant idea that we support 100%. they do recycling, a courier service and also ferry people around town at night time. Think you'd have to do a bit of scouting to see if there's a similar thing where you are. Or set it up yourself hehe.
anyway we pay abou £3 per bag which is like £3 every 2-3 weeks! and our concscience is clear

Thanks for that Divalou. . . what a great idea, I'm going to see if anyone's doiong anything similar here in s e london.

 

[sparklybits]

If it wasnt so cold i'd move to scotland!

Hey babe

I think we are a bit warmer than the rest of the ik just now!!!!!!:lol:

 

[Saya]

I actually did not know that there were people out there charging to help calculate business rates!!! what a rip off!

They way business rates are calculated is, yes, based on the square metreage/ footage, but there are also differents rates applied to different parts of the retail space, known as zones.

The zones are classed by their exposure to the public.
So for example, Zone A is your prime retail space at the front of the unit, about 2 metres deep.
So if you have a terraced unit, Zone A would be the area upto about 2 metres from the shopfront.

The you have zone B which is the rest of the retail space thereafter, excluding the private/ staff only areas.

Then you have zone C, which is the rest of the remaining space.

Each zone has it's own rate (charge per square metre), Zone A being more expensive then zone B, and zone B being more than zone C, etc.

Once the charge for each zone is calculated, the total of all charges is your business rate.

If this amount is under a certain threshold, I think £5k, then a discount will be applied, known as small business relief. There may be further/ different discounts applicavle depending on your local authrities rules.

This is the basic theory on how business rates are calculated, however the actual zonage/ rates need to be confirmed with you local authority.
The above should also be available on their website's business pages.

The trick, so I've been told is trying to reduce what is classifiesd as retail space, so that it can get zoned into as much non-retail space as possible and hence work out cheaper.

Hope this helps...
(I guess all my years of being a construction project manager have not been totally wasted : )