Up to one hundred businesses in Bristol city centre could be saved from the threat of closure due to the coronavirus crisis if the government raises the threshold for its Retail, Hospitality & Leisure Grant (RHLG).
With little detail in the Prime Minister’s most recent statements about the potential for shops, cafés, bars and restaurants to re-open, the Bristol City Centre Business Improvement District (BID) is backing a new, national campaign calling for vital support to be extended. It is joined by some of the city’s leading hospitality businesses including Hyde & Co and The Assemblies Ltd.
Bristol City Centre BID has joined a nationwide call on central government to expand the rateable value threshold for eligible businesses to access the £25,000 grant from £51,000 to £150,000.
The #RaiseTheBar campaign is warning that High Streets are on the brink of collapse and 54, 638 businesses from pubs to shops, restaurants, cafes, bars, hotels, galleries and gyms are left stranded without support.
These include popular, highly successful venues in Bristol city centre such as the Milk Thistle on Colston Avenue and No 1 Harbourside, which pay higher business rates as a result of the rateable value of their premises, and are therefore cut off from financial support offered to smaller leisure and entertainment venues.
Currently the ‘Discretionary Fund’ announced last week and administered by local authorities is only available to retail, hospitality and leisure businesses with a business rates value of up to £51,000.
86 MPs have signed the open letter the to the Chancellor, calling for the rateable value threshold to be increased for the RHLG grant.
Keith Rundle, operations director at Bristol City Centre BID says:
“The government has done a great deal to support business through this torrid time, and few are more affected than the retail, hospitality and leisure sector. This support simply doesn’t go far enough if it means help is out of the reach of some of our most popular and successful venues – which have had no choice but to close their doors for an unknown and significant duration.
“Bristol’s night life is one of the great things our city is famous for but it’s now under threat like never before. Access to this grant could be the difference between opening again for everyone to enjoy once they can operate safely and closing for good, unable to survive the unprecedented financial battle brought about by Covid-19.”
Jamie Tuck, partner in The Assemblies Ltd, which runs No 1 Harbourside, commented:
“It feels as though we are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Firstly we were given a rateable value and rates bill that is completely disproportionate to our level of trade and the nature of our business and now have the bitter pill of being excluded from the benefits that equivalent businesses in our area are benefiting from…it just seems so unfair. If the “bar was raised” we would have a much higher chance of survival! Let’s hope the government is able to listen to the choir of independent businesses that this adversely affects”
Nathan Lee, co-founder, Hyde & Co Group, added:
“We have eight hospitality businesses operating from properties of differing rateable values. The government grants are a key part of the package to enable us to envisage a future for our businesses when this crisis has passed. Without them we may have just walked away, dealing a sizeable blow to the community, our network of suppliers and our 150 employees. It seems bizarre to me that out larger sites, that employ more staff and contribute more to the economy are penalised by not qualifying for the grant. I am fully behind the campaign to raise the bar.”
Set up by Croydon BID (Business Improvement District), leaders of the #RaiseTheBar campaign believe access to the £25,000 is the difference between survival and bankruptcy for businesses on High Streets across England and Wales, which have welcomed an outpouring of support from the public during lockdown choosing to support their local communities.
The grant will enable businesses to mitigate some of the significant cashflow challenges, including rent, that furloughing does not address. Many businesses are not in a position to take on further debt or have serious misgivings about being able to survive the recovery whilst servicing additional unexpected loans. Other cash pressures include suppliers, service charges and the cost of re-opening to repurchase stock and ongoing running costs.
Matthew Sims, CEO, Croydon BID and co-founder of #RaiseTheBar campaign added:
“Access to the RHLG grant is a ticking time bomb for tens of thousands of businesses on our High Streets and in our local communities. There are just eight weeks until rent is due and the prospect of going under is an uncomfortable truth the Government needs to hear and act upon now. The consequences of failing to increase the business rates threshold are to grim to bear.”
For more information on the #RaiseTheBar campaign click here
