Café owner questions huge rating assessment

A seafront café owner has called for a review of the business rating system in Scotland.

He claims that properties owned by The City of Edinburgh Council are being given some kind of preferential treatment.

Eddie Tait, who owns the Boardwalk Beach Club at Cramond, has drawn attention to a number of cases where privately-owned businesses have been given a substantially higher rateable value than council owned premises.

The rateable value (RV) of his own business has increased from £3,500 when he acquired it in 2016 to £42,000 in the latest assessment.

Other businesses in the immediate area have been similarly rated. The Cramond Inn is £34,000 and Mimi’s Café at Lauriston Castle is £30,000, while the castle itself – owned by the council – has a rateable value of just £17,400.

Other council-owned property also have low valuations. The Writer’s Museum on The Mound has an RV of £21,200. The Garden Bistro at Saughton is valued at £22,600 and the Meadows Pavilion at £20,000.

Talking to Daily Business Mr Tait said: “This is a total sham. There is a big question of fairness here and why council property seems to be rated lower than private businesses. The assessors just seem to be plucking figures out of the air.”

He said the hikes imposed make it “difficult to run a business” in the city. “It puts businesses like mine into a state of worry.”

Mr Tait urged the city’s businesses and MPs to take up the issue and demand a “root and branch” review of the system.

A City of Edinburgh Council spokesperson said: “The council has no say in the rateable values of the properties. This is something that is independently assessed by the assessors, and in our case Lothian Valuation Joint Board.”