Business rates are set to rise more than 140 per cent for thousands of high street businesses across the UK in yet another cost pressure for brick-and-mortar businesses.

Business rates, which are levied on all commercial properties, were cut by 75 per cent in 2022 as high street stores found themselves unable to cope during the pandemic, but this relief is set to fall to 40 per cent in April.

Retailers currently benefiting from the relief will see their business rates bills increase in April on average from £3,751 a year to £9,003, and restaurants will see a rise of £5,563 to £13,351 a year, according to Colliers.

The average pub will also see its rates bill go up from £4,017 to £9,642 a year, Colliers found, while nightclubs – already under significant pressure – will see their annual bills rise from £7,479 to £18,245.

A survey from the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) earlier this month found that the “unsustainable” costs pressures and the resulting uncertainty was “more concerning than anything we saw during the pandemic”.

“The Labour Government’s business rates policies will soon put even further pressure on the high street as bills for the new rating year start to drop through the letterbox next month” John Webber, head of business rates at Colliers, said.

Pub and brewer Daniel Thwaites has previously said that relief has been a lifeline for many businesses, and its reduction may be “the final straw” for the “already overtaxed” firms.

Some businesses ‘won’t survive’

Business rates are controversial because they place brick-and-mortar stores at a disadvantage to online stores, which pay a reduced form of business rates applicable to warehouses.

In retail, business rates already make up more than five per cent of pre-tax profit, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC), who have been calling for rates reform for years.

The Government has pledged to reform business rates in a bid to level the playing field, but no plan will be implemented until April 2026 at the earliest, to coincide with the 2026 revaluation of rates.