DWYFOR Meirionnydd MP Liz Saville Roberts and Welsh Assembly Member for Mid and West Wales Simon Thomas have launched a joint campaign calling on the Welsh Government to make full use of its law-making powers to help small firms that have suffered as a result of the recent business rates revaluation in Wales.

Their call comes as Mrs Saville Roberts revealed that some firms in her constituency saw their business rate valuation increasing by nearly 100 per cent, (£17K-£33K) with Gwynedd recording the second highest increase amongst local authorities in Wales at 8.9 per cent, second only to Conwy at 9.2 per cent.

The MP is appealing to businesses in her constituency to pass on any information that will aid her in gaining as wide an understanding as possible of the business rate situation locally, ahead of a meeting with the Valuation Office Agency early in 2017.

She said: “I have several cases of business rate valuations increasing by nearly 100 per cent in my constituency, and great inconsistency across similar businesses, and it appears that Gwynedd is particularly hard hit.

“Business rates form a greater proportion of operating costs for small businesses than they do for large firms, indeed for many SME’s in my constituency they are a real burden on profitability and viability.

“There are many things Welsh Government can do to support businesses in Wales by reforming business rates taxation, least of all make full use of powers to make business rates work more effectively for the Welsh economy."

Read the full story in this week’s north editions of the Cambrian News