Shops are closing because business rates in Aberystwyth are ‘insanely high’ with the cost per square metre almost three times higher than the main shopping street in Swansea, town council research has shown.
Aberystwyth mayor Cllr Maldwyn Pryse said that work was undertaken to understand the issues for town centre businesses as the number of empty shops on Aberystwyth’s high street was described by the mayor as “worrying.”
“Most of the complaints I hear are about high business taxes,” Cllr Pryse said.
“After doing some background work it became clear that the cost per square metre on the main street through Aberystwyth was insanely high.
“We compared the cost per square metre on some of the main streets in cities and towns in Wales, which showed the extent of the problem.
“The cost per square metre in Aber is higher than any of the other towns and even higher than St Mary Street in Cardiff.
“The price per square metre is almost three times higher in Aber than the Kingsway in Swansea.
“I know that the method of working out the cost is complicated and that the rent charged also contributes but we really need to look for ways to try to solve the problem for the good of Aberystwyth.”
The research found that independent companies in the town centre also pay up to 10 times as much in business rates as large companies on the outskirts of the town.
The issue was raised in the Senedd by Mid and West Wales MS Cefin Campbell, who called for a “fairer system for determining business rates for independent, local companies”, to “contribute to the regeneration of town centres in the region”.
He described the current rates as “frankly absurd.”
In a question to Economy Secretary Rebecca Evans in the Senedd on 12 February, Mr Campbell said: “We know that this remains a challenging environment for small and local businesses, and that they need and deserve all of the support that they can get.
“It is very concerning to me, therefore, that many town centre businesses in mid and west Wales are paying over the odds when it comes to business rates.”
Ceredigion MS Elin Jones said the discrepancies in business rates were putting smaller businesses at a disadvantage.
“Cefin Campbell and I have been discussing the discrepancy in Aberystwyth's high street business rates with the town’s mayor, as part of his research on why many businesses have left the town centre,” she said.
“It's unbelievable that Aberystwyth's business rates are so much higher than some of our capital's most populated streets, for example, given the difference in population.
“It's no wonder that local, independent businesses are at a disadvantage and are leaving the high street when business rates are so high, especially given all the other challenges they are facing.
“The initial talks with the Valuation Office Agency have not led to much progress as of yet, but I will continue to support the mayor in the hope that we can make a difference."