LONDON, 2015-10-29 — /EPR Retail News/ — Responding to the publication by the Northern Ireland Executive of a consultation paper reviewing business rates in Northern Ireland, the Director of the Scottish Retail Consortium, David Lonsdale, said:
“Just as in Northern Ireland, the £2.8 billion Scottish system of business rates is not fit for purpose, disincentivises investment and has become a disproportionate burden on businesses the length and breadth of the country. Now that a government review is taking place in Northern Ireland, as is currently the case in England, it is even more imperative that Scottish Ministers look again at this issue and options for a fundamentally reformed approach to rates that better reflects economic conditions, promotes growth and reduces the tax burden.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
1. The SRC published its Holyrood 2016: Business Rates in August 2015. You can find the publication 
here
For media enquiries please contact David Martin, Head of Policy and External Affairs at the SRC: 07880039743 david.martin@brc.org.uk
British Retail Consortium, 21 Dartmouth Street, Westminster, London, SW1H 9BP. 020 7854 8900. info@brc.org.uk.