A NATIONAL campaign has warned the Government’s new business rates support package will fail to prevent a wave of closures on the British high street and in the hospitality sector in particular, including across West Somerset.

The Conservative’s ‘Save Your Local’ campaign, backed by Exmoor farmer and campaigner James Wright, described the measures as a ‘sticking plaster on a gaping wound’ which leaves the vast majority of the sector facing a cliff edge in April.

The warning comes after Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced a targeted relief scheme for pubs and grassroots music venues.

The package offers a 15 per cent discount to eligible sites, but analysis by the ‘Save Your Local’ campaign suggested the measures would only help one in 16 businesses.

It would leave 94 per cent of the hospitality and retail sector exposed to full tax liability when the new financial year begins.

The new business rates regime coincides with the removal of the previous 75 per cent Retail, Hospitality and Leisure (RHL) relief, creating what industry leaders are calling a ‘double whammy’ of rising valuations and reduced support.

Mr Wright said: “Every town and village relies on an ecosystem of businesses, pubs, shops, and community hubs.

“But right now, they are being hammered by business rates.

“Offering a small discount to a tiny fraction of businesses while letting the rest drown is not a rescue plan.

“We cannot tax our way to prosperity.

“These businesses create the jobs that keep our area alive.

“Without them, our communities wither.”

Mr Wright said the introduction of new rateable values had already led to sharp projected increases for prominent local businesses.

The Rest and Be Thankful Inn, in Wheddon Cross, was facing a doubling of its business rates under the new valuation.

Similarly, the Half Moon pub near Tiverton is set to see its annual rates bill rise by £12,500.

Mr Wright said even major regional employers were not immune, with the Butlin’s Minehead holiday resort hit with a revaluation which increases its rateable value from £1.4 million to £5.2 million, a 270 per cent rise creating a multi-million pound ‘tax bombshell’ for the local area.

As a large operator, the resort falls into a new ‘high value’ property band, meaning it faces a permanently higher tax rate than smaller businesses.

Mr Wright and other campaigners are calling on the Treasury to urgently review the relief cap and the ‘high value’ multiplier before the new tax year begins in April.

He is encouraging people to join the tens of thousands who have already signed his online petition protesting at the situation.

Mr Wright said the petition would be presented to the Labour Party before the Parliamentary spring recess.

West Somerset MP Rachel Gilmour also said earlier the Government measures did not go far enough and more needed to be done.

Mrs Gilmour, who is also organising a petition, said the 15 per cent discount on this year’s business rates bills for all pubs and music venues was too little to make any significant difference.