Hammond under pressure to ditch ‘giant’ business rates rise

Businesses fear the 4% rise will be a ‘tipping point’ for economy ahead of Brexit

Philip Hammond is under intense pressure from tens of thousands of UK companies to drop a planned 4% rise in business rates next year, amid warnings it would be a “tipping point” for the economy ahead of Brexit.

The country’s leading business lobby groups, including the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), Federation of Small Businesses and British Property Federation, have joined forces in an unprecedented campaign to tell Hammond that such a rise would seriously hit investment and confidence, and could mean more firms relocating abroad in the run-up to the UK leaving the EU in March 2019.

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