Join me on Shrewsbury pub crawl, MP Daniel Kawczynski urges Chancellor
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has been invited on a pub crawl around Shrewsbury by the town's MP, Daniel Kawczynski, to see for himself the impact business rates are having.
Mr Kawczynski wants Philip Hammond to hear first-hand of the struggle pub landlords are facing with increasing business rates.
In one of the more unusual House of Commons interventions, the Shropshire Conservative raised the issue during a session for questions to the minister.
Afterwards he took to Twitter to say: “At Treasury Questions I asked Philip Hammond to join me on a pub crawl in Shrewsbury to Salopian Bar and other pubs to hear from landlords their concerns over increasing business rates.”
After the meeting, he added: “I don’t believe the Chancellor is doing enough to mitigate business rate increases for pubs like the Salopian so have invited him on a pub crawl around town with me to hear first-hand the problems they are facing.”
Last year Salopian landlord Oliver Parry said he had been hit by a massive rise in business rates as a result of a re-valuation process which began early in 2017.
He spoke of his fears that business rates would eventually force him to shut.
In November last year, the owner of one of Shrewsbury’s most prominent businesses revealed he was selling up as a result of the hike in business rates, from £37,500 to £76,000.
Mike Avery put Cromwells on Dogpole, up for sale with a £1 million price tag.
He said he knew of at least two other hotels and bars in the town where the owners had either sold up or were looking for a buyer.
Mr Kawczynski recently met a representative of the Valuation Office Agency – the government organisation responsible for determining the rateable values of businesses across the country – to discuss the situation in Shrewsbury.
He was joined by the executive director of Shrewsbury Business District Improvement, Seb Slater, to discuss the hike in rates which led to a number of businesses claiming they will face increasingly difficult trading conditions.
Following the meeting Mr Kawczynski and Shrewsbury BID agreed to work together to ensure that businesses affected by improvement works in the town, receive information and evidence to support appeals on rateable value.
