Hereford pet store ‘sees no benefit’ from business levy

A Herefordshire pet store owner claims having to pay a county business levy is unfair at a time when firms are already hard-pressed.

Paul Rowe, director of General Dogsbody in Hereford’s Barrs Court Road said he is “forced to fork out nearly £300 a year for a service which in no way benefits my company”.

The Herefordshire County Business Improvement District (BID) is chiefly funded by a levy based on qualifying businesses’ rateable value, and is collected by the county council along with firms’ business rates.

While this funds a range of promotional activities intended to benefit payers, including the Visit Herefordshire promotional campaign, Mr Rowe called it “a back-slapping exercise for people in suits”, funding “awards for tourism businesses which, as far as I can tell, are the only people who benefit”.

“Like everyone we have been shafted by the National Insurance rise,” which has put £12,000 on the firm’s wage costs, he said.

“So we went through our costs and that looked like money we could save right away. We contacted the council to see if we could get out of it, but they threatened me with court for non-payment.”

In the current climate, “you either makes cuts, or you put prices up”, he added.

“Fortunately we haven’t lost any staff. We have loyal customers who like the one-to-one service we provide.”

Herefordshire County BID chief executive Diane Mansell said levy payers “have access to a raft of services such as training programmes and money-saving initiatives, reaching far beyond the visitor economy”, while Visit Herefordshire Tourism Awards “has launched a retail category to support all retail businesses”.

She urged General Dogsbody to “get in touch with us [so we can] ensure they are taking advantage of all the services and resources we can offer”, adding: “There are so many.”

The BID’s initial ballot of levy payers was in late 2021, when 103 out of 124 businesses backed it. It will begin consulting with levy payers this August ahead of a renewed vote to continue the scheme in October next year.

BIDs were established in law in 2004, and by 2023 there were 335 across the country, more the twice the figure ten years previously. Inner Hereford has its own separate BID.