One-third of UK firms worried about business rates: BCC Q4 2025 survey

Companies cited cost pressure from business rates as a key reason for increasing prices and delaying expansion of their premises.

Concern was the highest in the hospitality sector (49 per cent), with manufacturing (44 per cent) and logistics (43 per cent) close behind.

In 2024, 27 per cent of firms said they had scaled back or cancelled premises improvements due to the burden of business rates.

In 2025, before the budget, almost a quarter (23 per cent) of firms said they planned to adjust prices due to business rates pressure.

BCC’s latest research shows 52 per cent of the forms now plan to put up prices due to rising costs.

Therefore, BCC has urged the Treasury to rethink its plans for business rates as anxiety about changes to the system in April reaches record levels.

While the government has indicated it is considering a rethink on business rates for pubs, BCC research shows the disquiet being felt goes much wider.

“The Chancellor recognised in the Autumn Budget that the current system for business rates is broken and holding back growth. But it is becoming increasingly clear that the changes she set out are not balanced and leave some sectors over-exposed,” said Kate Shoesmith, BCC director of policy and insights, in a release.

“The first step in addressing this must be an uplift in the level of transitional relief to offset the huge upswing many firms are facing in their rateable values come April,” she observed.

“The government must then deliver the more ambitious root and branch reform of the whole system promised in their manifesto,” she added.

The Q4 QES results suggest that inflationary pressure remains embedded in the business environment, wrote Stuart Morrison, BCC research manager.

“While expectations are below the peaks seen during the height of the inflation surge, they remain elevated by historical standards. This points to ongoing cost-push pressures, particularly from labour, energy, and regulatory costs, rather than a renewed acceleration in demand,” he said.

“The Q4 results reinforce the view that, while inflation has come down from its highs, the journey back to more stable price growth is unlikely to be smooth,” he added.

ALCHEMPro News Desk (DS)