doing much of the heavy lifting. If our recovery is to get on to a more even keel, we really must get businesses investing more - the Government’s ambitions to level up the country and reach net zero will stand or fall on succeeding here.
As founder and chairman of Cobra Beer, I know just how much of a strangle the current system puts on restaurants and pubs, up and down the land.And the impact stretches well beyond shops; from factories and airports to offices – any business with a physical footprint. Don’t get me wrong; business rates are – and should remain - an integral part of our tax system. But businesses need it to change and change now.
So what to do? For starters, the CBI wants to see a freezing of rate increases in England beyond the planned revaluation in 2023, and also move to a system of annual revaluations by 2026.
That's why the towns are looking like ghost towns.
Digitalis!