Hoteliers and other business owners in an Aberdeenshire town have warned the business rates rises could spell the death knell for many of them.
Companies in Stonehaven are joining forces to mount an appeal against the new rateable values given to their properties.
Sheila Howarth, owner of the Belvedere Hotel, is facing a 106% increase and feels the hospitality industry has been unfairly targeted.
Other hoteliers in the town are will suffer similar increases – up from £53,750 to £133,000 in the case of the Station Hotel.
The proposed rateable values would be effective from April 1 – but so far the business owners have been told nothing officially
Mrs Howarth only became aware of her revaluation after she received a phone call from a solicitor offering services to appeal the doubled figure.
She said: “That was the first I heard of it. I went straight to the assessor’s website to look at all the other hotels and then phoned them to let them know – none of them had been informed.”
Michelle Ward, who employs 30 staff at the Royal Hotel, has seen her rates double since taking on the hotel in 2002 and feels she would have to choose between closing the hotel accommodation or going bust.
She said: “It feels like the final nail in the coffin – kicking us when we are down.”
Owner of the Ship hotel, Simon Cruikshank, thinks the trade is being “clobbered” by the “absolutely unreasonable” rises.
He faces an increase in business rates from £28,000 to £60,000.
He said: “My services will not be improved, in fact they are getting less and less. We pay a private contractor for refuse collection and also another for taking away waste oil.
“When they willy-nilly try to double our rates it’s just not fair in the face of a big recession in this area.”
Pauline Simpson runs the pre-school nursery Simpson Playhouse in Cameron Street and is also facing an increase of 123% – from £10,750 to £24,000.
She said: “That is like another wage I have to find. I don’t want to have to put prices up, as it is already costly for parents who want to go back to work.
“It is a massive, massive increase – it is as if they want to put me out of business.”
A meeting is being held in the Belvedere Hotel tomorrow morning at 10:30am for any business owners who would like to join the appeal.
