Dear Chancellor and Business Secretary

Business Rates Betrayal: Catastrophic Business Rates rises will put thousands of pubs out of business – cancel the deeply flawed revaluation & investigate how it happened

We are writing on behalf of the Campaign for Pubs and thousands of publicans in England and Wales who are now facing catastrophic business rates rises in April, which will instantly put many of them out of business.   

Publicans in England and Wales are frankly appalled at this business rates betrayal and the way that you as Chancellor gave the wholly false impression that the Government was somehow supporting pubs through business rates assistance.

In reality, as you both will have been well aware, nearly all pubs in England and Wales face increases in rates bills and some pubs face rates hikes that double or treble their annual rates bill, which immediately puts them out of business.  

The awful reality facing many publicans is that they will see huge hikes in rates bills, due to this shocking and deeply suspicious revaluation of rateable values, which suddenly sees them – and rates bills for pubs – rocket, despite so many pubs struggling due to cost pressures and the cost-of-living crisis.