Community group says tax hike puts future in doubt

Dave Poulton called for the council to be "compassionate" towards the project

A community project has hit back at the local council for demanding it pay the full business rates on its city centre shop.

Up The Garden Bath, which is a community interest company (CIC), opened its shop Unity in Peterborough's Queensgate Shopping Centre in 2023.

The company sells products on behalf of other small independent firms and has received a 40% discount on business rates from the local authority.

But Peterborough City Council said Unity was "predominantly retail in nature" and needed to pay the full amount.

Up The Garden Bath has been best known for upcycling old bath tubs and using them as planters in Central Park.

Founder Dave Poulton said the project was "more than just a shop" and called for the council to "acknowledge its contribution to regenerate the city centre".

He said paying the full rate meant an extra £24,000 a year in costs, which he called "uneconomical" and "unaffordable", and said it put its future in doubt.

"We will have to rely on volunteers instead," said Mr Poulton.

"We have to bring the rates down to keep Unity alive."

He said the project had generated £700,000 in sales for small businesses.

Earlier this year, the store launched a Goal2Grow project, a scheme to recycle football kits for lower income families

CICs are limited companies which operate to benefit the community they serve.

Business rates are a tax on non-domestic properties including shops, pubs and offices. The fees are collected by local councils.

Fifty-three properties across Peterborough receive a complete rates relief, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Mr Poulton said all the revenue generated at the Unity store - which he said supported 50 small independent businesses monthly - was put back into the community, such as through crafts and gardening workshops.

'Wrong call'

The city's Labour MP Andrew Pakes and Conservative Paul Bristow, who is mayor for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, have both called for the decision to be revised.

Bristow said he was "shocked" to learn the shop was being charged a full commercial business rate, while Pakes said it was the "wrong call".

Nicola Day, deputy leader of the Green Party on the council, said it was "good to see unified voices" for the store.

Mohammed Jamil, the Labour deputy leader and cabinet member for finance and corporate governance at the council, said the business did not meet the criteria for mandatory rate relief.

"This is because the business remains predominantly retail in nature and eligibility for charitable rate relief requires that the premises be used wholly or mainly for charitable purposes," said Jamil.

He said officers were in touch with the business to see how they could support it through other means.