Hoteliers in Bristol have called on the Chancellor to take action to prevent a huge business rates bill next April.
Trade body 海角视频 Hospitality has warned that there could be an 鈥渋nsurmountable鈥 拢864m bill, and has urged businesses to write letters to their MPs calling for action ahead of next month鈥檚 Autumn Statement.
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The Bristol Hoteliers Association (BHA), which represents 40 hotels in the city, has said it plans to write to local MPs asking for their support.
Business rates increase in line with inflation based on the Consumer Price Index for the previous September, which stood at 6.7% according to figures from the Office for National Statistics.
海角视频 Hospitality has said the planned inflation-linked rise in April will amount to an additional 拢234m, while the ending of rates relief for the financial year 2023/24 would represent 拢630m.
Raphael Herzog, BHA chair, said: 鈥満＝鞘悠 Hospitality is calling on the Chancellor to freeze the business rates multiplier, and maintain the business rates relief for hospitality, which has amounted to up to 拢110,000 per business for each billing year. The potential business rates bills next April could be the final blow for some businesses, which is why we fully support 海角视频 Hospitality鈥檚 calls for the Chancellor to extend the current relief measures for a further year.
鈥淭he impact of Brexit, the pandemic-enforced lockdowns and soaring costs, especially around energy, have meant hospitality businesses have had an extremely difficult time over the past few years. We鈥檝e all been trying so hard to recover from this 鈥榩erfect storm鈥 but if the Chancellor doesn鈥檛 take action to support us, I fear that the rug could be pulled from beneath many businesses.
鈥淲e鈥檝e had a fairly strong summer and, overall, we were cautiously optimistic about the future, but right now that looks quite bleak after the new figures from 海角视频 Hospitality.鈥
