£438,000 boost for South Norfolk businesses

More than 900 small businesses in South Norfolk have been saved almost half a million pounds after the council appealed for them to apply for small business rate relief.

Small Business Rate Relief helps people running small businesses by allowing them to cut their business rate bills by half, depending on the rateable value of their properties.

In March – as a result of sending application forms to small businesses across the district – over 750 businesses had contacted the council’s local taxation team. And thanks to their work, these businesses were saved a total of £335,000 on their rate bills.

In April, the local taxation team took their campaign a step further, and appealed through the council’s community magazine The Link, prompting another 150 businesses to make contact and apply. That has pushed the total saved on rate bills so far to £438,000.

Dennis Hardy, the council’s local taxation manager said:

“That’s a remarkable total saving for these businesses and averages out at £486 each. That can make a real difference for a small business in a village or a market town or for a rural business where jobs are scarce and a small firm can support a local community.

“And we know there are more businesses out there who have not returned their forms. We wrote out to 1,600 businesses when we began this process earlier this year, and 900 have now replied. We want the rest to do so as soon as possible.”

Councillor Jacky Sutton, who leads on the economy for the council said:

“This is great news for local business and local jobs. Small businesses like these are the lifeblood of our rural communities and they need all the help they can get.

“If our efforts have helped just one shop or firm to stay in business, then we can be justly proud of rescuing this rate relief scheme from obscurity, and turning it into a what is now almost a half a million pound success.

”I would urge those small businesses which still have not returned their forms to do so as soon as they can. Let’s face it, with the possibility of help in cutting their rate bills, they would be mad not to. It makes business sense.

“I also call on all our local business organisations to contact those members you believe might have received our form and urge them to get in touch with us on 01508 533885.”

Related pages

• Latest news