Birmingham Chamber of Commerce Group is calling on the Government to reconsider its latest proposal to increase annual business rates from two per cent to 5.6 per cent which will have a devastating effect on businesses.
The Government is recommending that from April this year and in line with the spike in retail prices index inflation, that businesses pay more for their properties.
Michael Ward, president of Birmingham Chamber of Commerce Group said this will have serious implications on companies of all sizes. He said: “We are calling on the Government to scrap the proposed up-rating or cap annual business rates at two per cent.
“Companies have already cut expenditure to the bone, coping with rising fuel costs and cutting staff pay rises. No further increases can be passed on to their customers, so further rises in the costs of running a business just cannot be contemplated.
“A cap on business rates will provide businesses with relief from high inflation, certainty on the cost of future rates and will provide them with the confidence to invest and expand.”
Birmingham Chamber of Commerce Group is supporting the British Chambers of Commerce in its campaign to cap business rates and is writing to MPs asking for support in including this move in the budget announcement later this month.
