After an unprecedented week in politics; with mass resignations forcing Boris Johnson to resign from the top seat, the UK once again finds itself in a leadership contest for the prime minister position.
Many conservative politicians have already begun throwing their hats in the ring for a shot at No.10, with their focal policies being key to winning the support of party backbenchers. MP's are sure to be listening carefully to the advice and concerns of business leaders in their constituency as they choose a candidate to support.
But while many candidates claim to have the UK's business's best interest at heart, industry leaders are calling out for more substantial support compared to what has been pitched so far.
This is because so far, most announcements have been centred on reversing the proposed increase in corporation tax. This is of course a welcome suggestion, but in a time of recession when profits for many businesses are at an all-time low, lowering a tax based on profit isn't going to make a huge amount of difference.
To make a bigger difference to small and medium companies struggling to make a profit, the government needs to reduce the costs of company overheads. Energy prices are set to soar even further and the current business rates system continues to fail many companies in need of financial support. A candidate focused on addressing these issues is sure to catch more SME attention than any proposal to cut cooperation tax.
As it stands, it's still very much early days in a candidate race, and new policies will be announced in the run-up to the election daily. But what can businesses do right now to prepare for whatever new policies are to come?
Make the most of existing policies:
As experts in the industry, we know that the current business rates system is fundamentally flawed. Year after year, business owners unknowingly overpay their bills, and over the six-year rating cycle can amount to tens of thousands of pounds. All of this can be claimed back if an appeal is made within the next 9 months.
We don't know what changes we could see to the business rates system with a new prime minister, making it more important to claim your overpayments back now. Make the most of our free consultation service to see how much you could save.
Ensure your receiving the relief you're entitled to.
Through the pandemic, a variety of reliefs and grants have been available for those that have struggled through the pandemic. Concerningly, councils are not seeing as much uptake in these as expected.
These schemes can offer up to 100% relief from business rates payments, but they are only available for a limited time. Many people are unaware of their eligibility and so go without enquiring. If you'd like to know more about the schemes on offer or need help with forming an application, please get in touch.
Keep up to date with policy announcements:
As we mentioned, it's expected we'll see several policy announcements in the run-up to the leadership race. We'll be covering any updates we find that relate to business costs here. Make sure to check back occasionally to see if we've covered anything that affects you.
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