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FEBRUARY 2015 PRO INSTALLER
PRO BUSINESS
www.proinstaller.co.uk
BUSINESSES FACE LOSING
FIVE YEARS OF REFUNDS
Businesses face losing out on five years’ worth of refunds on their business rates because of the
Government’s controversial imposition of a looming deadline for appeals; warn real estate advisors,
Colliers International, who is spearheading a campaign to draw attention to the fact that any business
paying Business Rates only has a number of weeks to appeal any overcharged payments.
Companies need to lodge
their appeal by 1st April
2015. This applies to any
owner/occupier or commercial property landlord,
so impacts on all types of
business premises.
There are around 1.9 million
commercial properties across
the UK, and in an average year,
there might be around 120,000
appeals. This year though, more
than 250,000 are expected. But
many companies will lose out
because most businesses are
unaware of this deadline or
their right to appeal.
John Webber, Head of Rating
at Colliers International, fears
most businesses are unaware
of a Government-imposed
deadline of 1st April 2015 for
appeals on their business rates
valuations.
The deadline was “almost lost in
the small print” of the Chancellor’s
Autumn Statement in December
2014 with “certainly no attention
drawn to it,” said Mr Webber.
He explained: “Despite having
extended the time period for the
revaluation of businesses on the
ratings list from five to seven years
(extended to 2017) they haven’t extended the period where businesses
are entitled to appeal.
“This means that whilst businesses
will still be able to appeal between
April 2015 and 2017, any refunds or
savings will only be backdated to
April 2015, meaning that businesses
could lose out on five years’ worth
of rebates.
“Most businesses won’t be aware
of these changes. They haven’t been
publicised and there are genuine
concerns that less business rate savvy companies will really lose out.
George
Osborne,
Chancellor of
the Exchequer
“We worry that the new deadline will cause panic with ‘cowboys’ in the industry persuading
clients to appeal en-masse to the
Valuation Office without the due
diligence which could result in an
incr ease in rates liability, ironically, also dating back five years.”
Mr Webber feared that the
Valuation Office, which sets the
rateable value for non-domestic
properties, will be unable to cope
with a flood of appeals prior
to 1st April 2015, having only
recently cleared a backlog of
appeals made prior to September
2013.
He added: “No-one is ready for
the impending change, neither
businesses nor the Valuation Office and the Government doesn’t
want the appeals to be made so
it’s not highlighting this deadline
to businesses.”
Window of Opportunity
One of The VEKA UK Group’s leading Scottish fabricators,
Stevenswood, will be expanding its production capacity and
network of trade counters across the country thanks to a £3.5m
investment of growth capital from BGF (Business Growth Fund).
The £11m turnover
business, which
manufactures more
than 1,000 windows
and doors per week,
currently sells its bespoke manufactured
products through its
trade counters in
Edinburgh, Glasgow,
Aberdeen, Kilmarnock, Dundee and at
its headquarters in
Livingston.
The £3.5m investment
from BGF, the independent company established
to help the UK’s growing businesses, will
see Stevenswood open
additional trade counters
across Scotland, as well
as expanding its kitchen
operations to meet the
growing demand for its
quality products.
BGF has taken a minority stake in Stevenswood
with Patrick Graham joining the board as Investor
Director. The board has
been bolstered with the
appointment of David
Pearson as Chairman
and Murray McGarvie as
Finance Director.
Pearson brings extensive
experience of working
with institutionally-backed
manufacturing businesses.
McGarvie is an experienced Finance Director
with a proven track record in both manufacturing and retail businesses.
The strategic recruitment of Director Duncan
Murray in the year 2000
moved the direction of
the business to focus on
manufacturing its own
products. During the last
decade it has invested
more than £1.6m in a new
site and state-of-the-art
machinery.
Ron Hepburn, Managing
Director of Stevenswood,
explained: “We have been
reinvigorated about the
future prospects of our
business thanks to BGF’s
growth capital investment.”
www.stevenswood.co.uk
www.bgf.co.uk