'It'll cripple trainers' - Welsh business rates issue makes parliament debate

The BHA has lobbied the Welsh government to address the "extortionate" business rates trainers are paying in Wales, which are much higher than the rest of Britain.

Tim Vaughan has led the way on raising the issue, highlighting his cost per box of £500 is around £100 more than Malton in Yorkshire and £50 higher than the other key training bases in Lambourn and Newmarket, despite being in a more remote location.

Issues were made worse during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, when business rates were frozen for most English-based trainers while their Welsh counterparts continued to pay. Wales' three racecourses, however, did receive relief.

Vaughan recently appealed his box rate down from £600 but believes this cost is still the biggest challenge for trainers. He pays a total of £21,000 a year for his 42 boxes, £4,200 more than the cost in Malton.

Vaughan said: "It's coming at trainers at all angles, you have to dance your way through it to make it profitable, which is what we're all trying to do.

"Rates for stables in Wales, I feel, are too high from a land value point of view and from what's achievable in the open market. Fundamentally, it's all about what that stable can be let out for, and I don't think those rates are realistic.

"Lots of trainers are feeling the pinch and starting to drop out, but it's especially hard for trainers in Wales because of the business rates. The BHA are lobbying for us that we should have a reduced element of rates for the racing industry in Wales and it's wholly supported by myself and other trainers."

Rebecca Curtis: stables are more than 40 miles away from the nearest Welsh racecourseCredit: Edward Whitaker

Fellow trainer Rebecca Curtis also raised concerns regarding business rates.

Her stables in Newport, Pembrokeshire are more than 40 miles away from the nearest racecourse, Ffos Las, meaning inflated fuel prices add a further strain on her own yard's finances.

"It's an absolute nightmare in Wales," she said. "Even through Covid we didn't get any sort of relief from our council in Pembrokeshire and no grant, which most other trainers [in England] have had. They're extortionate and that's on top of the fact we're at a massive disadvantage being down here, so far away from owners. It's tough.

"I believe we're paying more than the likes of Paul [Nicholls] or Nicky [Henderson], which is crazy. We've tried and tried, and written to MPs and our local councils. I hope this is a step in the right direction, but something like this can cripple small trainers."

The BHA's proposal sent out last week outlines potential changes to better support stables. It states that yards should be categorised differently, to be able to access rates relief in the future, while the threshold which determines whether a yard can receive small business rates relief could also be moved to the same level as in England and Scotland.

Yet the rate of the multiplier – a tool set up by the government to calculate business rates against a property's rateable value – is described as the biggest issue. A rate of 53p, which will be frozen in Wales for the next two years, is higher than in England.

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