The north’s business leaders spoke of their relief last night following a decision about rates in the Scottish Parliament.
Controversial and potentially damaging plans to change the Non-Domestic Rates (Scotland) Bill were stopped on Tuesday night.
Which brought massive relief to the small firms currently occupying 15,070 Highlands and Islands premises, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) said.
The federation officials said that thousands of businesses across Moray are celebrating after plans to end the small business bonus scheme (SBBS) were shelved during Stage 3 of the Bill.
Last month FSB expressed concern at the changes to the Bill at Stage 2, which would have localised business tax rates and abolished national reliefs.
FSB Highlands and Islands development manager, David Richardson, said: “MSPs are to be congratulated for putting the needs of smaller businesses first.
“To take one example, in 2019 the Small Business Bonus Scheme saved smaller Highlands and Islands businesses occupying 15,070 premises £24.4 million.
“At a time of mounting costs and shrinking margins this undoubtedly kept many businesses solvent, and solvent businesses are vital to the sustainability of the Highlands and Islands in general, and to its small, remote communities in particular.
“I’d also like to thank the many Highlands and Islands FSB members who responded to FSB surveys and spoke out on this vital issue.”
Meanwhile, North East Scotland development manager, David Groundwater, said: “Small businesses across Moray already face challenging times with rising employment costs, squeezed margins and low confidence.
“While much of Scotland’s business rates system is old-fashioned and unnecessarily complicated, the removal of national support schemes, such as the Small Business Bonus Scheme would have dealt a hammer blow to the 2,830 receipts in Moray.
“We are delighted to see MSPs across the political spectrum listen to FSB members and the small business community to recognise these amendments were the wrong approach.”
The Scottish policy chairman of FSB said if the decision hadn’t been taken, costs for businesses would have gone up.
Andrew McRae, said: “MSPs had a big call to make. If they didn’t amend this legislation, we’d have seen bills going up and national reliefs axed. This was not the time to hit small businesses with new annual rates bills in excess of £7,000.
“Our MSPs are to be congratulated for recognising this threat and acting decisively to address it.”
