David Chapman, Executive Director, UKHospitality Cymru, said: “We’ve campaigned long and hard for support with Business Rates and so the provision of 40% relief for businesses in England from April is very welcome.
However, it’s vitally important that the Welsh Government utilises this funding to provide businesses with a suitable level of continued rates support here.
The Welsh government should be applauded for paving the way to the introduction of a lower business rates multiplier through recent legislation. While we discuss a new, better system, it would be incredibly beneficial to the sector to have all of this interim relief made available to us.
Looking at where we are at the moment, things are still tough for our businesses. We are likely to face some post-Christmas closures and certainly staff and offer cutbacks because of cost increases in other areas, such as the new employer National Insurance Contributions and higher-than-expected wage rises, and so the rate relief assistance is very important indeed”