WARWICK District Council has acted swiftly to ensure retail, leisure and hospitality outlets will not have to pay business rates for 12 months from April.
Following the government’s announcement on Tuesday that eligible businesses would receive a discount of 100 per cent, the council has amended all bills and re-issued them in time for the start of the 2020/21 financial year.
The relief is being awarded to all occupied retail, leisure and hospitality properties that are wholly or mainly being used for retail, leisure or hospitality purposes, in accordance with central government guidelines.
District finance spokesman Coun Richard Hales said: “This unprecedented national emergency is effecting everyone in our community and it is going to be our retail, hospitality and leisure sector who are going to be amongst the hardest hit in the coming months.
“We wanted to move quickly to make sure that these businesses would not incur the added burden of business rates in these extremely challenging times. I would also like to play tribute to the work of the council’s revenues team.”
