Business rates could close small businesses, says Celtic Manor chief

Small businesses could collapse if business rates are reintroduced in Wales next year, a leading hotelier has said.

The boss of Celtic Collection, Ian Edwards, said rates should be kept at zero for hospitality from April.

In England, rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure businesses will see a 50% discount.

The Welsh economy minister said he was discussing the matter with the finance minister ahead of December's budget.

The hospitality industry was one of the largest users of the UK government's furlough scheme, and the gradual reopening of bars, restaurants and hotels has been hit by shortages of staff and rising costs.

Business rates relief was part of the Welsh government's initial response to the pandemic, which meant all small businesses and some larger ones were exempt from paying business rates until April 2022.

In October's budget, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced retail, hospitality and leisure businesses in England would be able to claim a discount on their business rates of 50%, up to a maximum of £110,000.

The chief executive of the Celtic Collection, which includes the Celtic Manor resort in Newport, wants the Welsh government to go further when it publishes its budget in December.

Mr Edwards said ongoing support through business rates relief was "absolutely needed".

"Make no mistake about this, we are definitely not out of the pandemic. Businesses are not running at full capacity.

"So if we don't have that support then many businesses now, before the end of the year or after this year, could collapse because of that support disappearing. And we absolutely need it, going forward."

He said business rates "should remain at zero, because we are in such uncertain times".

Cerys Furlong is a restaurant and pub owner from Cardiff and a member of the Welsh Independent Restaurants Collective.

She said: "It's not just about closing your doors and then re-opening your doors.

"Every time we do that there are costs included and of course when there are long periods of closure like there has been over the past 18 months many businesses have incurred vast amounts of debt that they're also trying to pay back.

"It's not just about getting back to normal but about getting us in a position to thrive again."

The Celtic Collection's latest development, the Parkgate Hotel, opened in October on Westgate Street in Cardiff at a challenging time for the hospitality industry.

"It's a risk opening any business at any time, no matter what is going on," Mr Edwards said, adding "but it is even more of a risk opening a hospitality business during a pandemic.

"Hospitality has probably suffered more than any other industry during this pandemic."

Wales' Economy Minister Vaughan Gething said the Welsh government understood that businesses were asking for further support with business rates from next April.

He said he was discussing with Finance Minister Rebecca Evans "the sort of support we will be able to provide to businesses in the future", ahead of the Welsh government's budget on 20 December.

"We're going to need to make choices in the next couple of months with our budget," Mr Gething said, appearing before the Senedd's economy committee on Thursday.

Staff shortages have hit many hospitality businesses, with restaurants and hotels having to limit their opening times or reduce the number of rooms on sale in order to deal with a recruitment crisis.

It is an issue that students at Coleg y Cymoedd in Rhondda Cynon Taf are acutely aware of, with some already working in the sector before finishing their qualifications.

Nicholas Schindler, 19, from Ystrad Rhondda is studying cookery at college and working in a pub.

"I would love to work in a proper, professional kitchen in the near future," he said.

"I have been working up in a pub kitchen for about five months, and it is incredibly busy. I have had to do it on my own sometimes - just working in a kitchen, because there is nobody else to do it."