Jeff Pearey , the Leeds based director who leads JLL’s North East region, said: “It was pleasing to hear the Chancellor announce that start-up funds will be made available to help launch new services from regional airports and that he specifically mentioned Leeds Bradford. This will help stimulate activity as well as making it easier for companies to export. Connecting our region with additional European cities, and indeed further afield, certainly helps to endorse Yorkshire’s “business sell” to the wider world as well as providing a great platform for tourists wishing visit.”
On the issue of business rates, Paul Davinson, director in Rating in JLL’s Leeds office, added: “The Chancellor’s announcement to extend the deadline by which businesses will need to have located in an Enterprise Zone in order to claim business rate discounts to 31 March 2018 is warmly welcomed. However this is a missed opportunity to announce a fundamental reform of the business rate system and align it with other tax policies announced today, such as using the same principle as the personal tax allowance and remove the smallest assessments from liability altogether. Annual revaluations based on self-assessment should also have been considered following the next revaluation.
“In last year’s Autumn Statement the Chancellor threw the retail industry a bone by announcing a 2 per cent cap and rate relief, but what struggling retailers would benefit from is an announcement about bringing forward valuations and a guarantee about future valuations being undertaken on a more frequent basis. Our recent research highlighted that 40 per cent of UK locations are losing out as a result of the deferral and further damage to the UK high street is inevitable if revaluations are delayed in the future.”
