"Devastating" changes

Leading Tunbridge Wells hospitality businesses have teamed up with the local MP Mike Martin to highlight cost rises which they say are "potentially ruinous".

Mike Martin has written to the Treasury on behalf of 17 local businesses including TasteWells, Sankey's, Tiger Tavern in Culverden Down, Spa Hotel and Fuggles Beer cafe in Grosvenor Road.

They all want changes to the current business rates system.

The letter states:  "From 2025-26, the retail, hospitality, and leisure relief rate will be reduced from 75% to 40%. This has come as devastating news to hospitality businesses in Tunbridge Wells. 

"Together with rising employers' National Insurance contributions, the National Minimum Wage increase, and escalating operational costs, this combination is creating an unsustainable and potentially ruinous financial burden on small businesses."

The letter to the Treasury continues: "Members of the Tunbridge Wells hospitality group are now forced to consider raising their prices, laying off staff, or delaying future employment to make sure they can still turn a profit and stay afloat."

One member of the group is the well-known restaurateur Peter Cornwell (below) of "I'll Be Mother" group runs a range of local hospitality businesses including The Beacon, Kingdom in Penshurst and The Swan at Tenterden.

Other members of the group include Derek Betts from Taste Wells, Matthew Sankey from Sankey's, Alex Macnutt from Tiger Tavern, Ant Scrag from Spa Hotel and Alex Grieg from Fuggles.

The letter also argues that businesses that improve their premises should not be penalised by seeing higher business rates. 

It supports a Liberal Democrat proposal for a Commercial Landowner Levy to replace the current system which would tax the land value of commercial sites rather than their entire capital value.

It then suggests that high street businesses that help bind communities together are treated unfairly compared with online based competitors.  

It continues:  "As an example, Amazon paid just 0.37% of their retail sales in business rates in 2021. An independent café-bar in Tunbridge Wells pays approximately 3% of its sales in business rates. Fundamentally, a huge multi-national corporation should not be paying less, relatively speaking, than a high street bar".

The letter concludes: "The Tunbridge Wells hospitality industry is vital to the local economy, but the current business rates system disproportionately affects these small businesses and stifles growth. We urge HM Treasury to consider a fundamental shift in the system that delivers meaningful change to ensure hospitality businesses can thrive. 

"Failing that, targeted reliefs and a fairer valuation approach would mitigate the impact that business rates have on the sector in Tunbridge Wells, allowing easier navigation through other increased costs".