Overview
- Andy Burnham has proposed a new levy on large out-of-town warehouses to help pay for reduced business rates for pubs, clubs and music venues and to expand small-business relief.
- Independent analysis from tax firm Ryan finds only about 1,900 warehouses sit in the highest business-rates band and just 129 are run by purely online retailers, which limits potential revenue from a targeted levy.
- Ryan’s modelling suggests expanding small-business relief by raising the full exemption threshold to £18,000 would remove more than 140,000 premises from rates and cost roughly £880 million a year.
- Retail groups and industry figures warn the levy would chiefly fall on multi-channel retailers and supermarkets that operate large warehouses, risking higher consumer prices and pressure on thin retail margins.
- Implementation faces legal and fiscal obstacles because business rates are set nationally, HM Treasury controls spending, and Burnham has not published detailed, costed plans or named a chancellor to formalise funding arrangements.