Extra Business rates relief for hospitality and live music venues announced

Daniel Bevan - Editor

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Hospitality businesses across Wales are set to receive additional support through a new business rates relief package worth up to £8 million, the Welsh Government has confirmed.

Around 4,400 pubs, restaurants, cafés, bars and live music venues will be eligible for a 15% reduction in their business rates bills in 2026–27, aimed at helping the sector manage rising operating costs and shifting consumer behaviour.

The funding will be drawn from a combination of UK Government funding and Welsh Government resources, allowing the support to be extended to a wider range of hospitality businesses in Wales.

The new relief will sit alongside existing support measures already in place.

Nearly half of pubs in Wales currently benefit from Small Business Rates Relief, with more than a quarter paying no business rates at all.

Permanent business rates reliefs provided by the Welsh Government are valued at £250 million annually.

Further changes to the business rates system are also planned.

From April, the business rates multiplier will be reduced for the first time since 2010, while £116 million in transitional relief will be provided over two years to help businesses adjust following revaluation.

Finance Secretary, Mark Drakeford, said: “Pubs, restaurants, cafes, bars, and live music venues are at the heart of communities across Wales. We know they are facing real pressures, from rising costs to changing consumer habits.

“This additional support will help around 4,400 businesses as they adapt to these challenges.

“We have extended this relief to restaurants and cafes, as well as pubs and live music venues, because in towns and high streets across Wales these businesses operate side by side, often in direct competition.

“It makes sense to support them equally.

“This builds on more than £1 billion in temporary rates relief we have provided since 2020, alongside our permanent reliefs worth £250 million every year.

“We will continue to stand behind the hospitality businesses that serve our communities.”

Eligible businesses will be able to apply for the relief through their local authority from April 2026.

Federation of Small Business (FSB)’s Head of Wales Joshua Miles said: “We’ve been highlighting the large increases in business rates facing hospitality and leisure businesses for some time, so it’s good to see Welsh Government respond with additional relief for some businesses.

“Although this news will bring a welcome, temporary reprieve for food and drink hospitality businesses and music venue owners, small firms across the rest of the hospitality and leisure sectors will be incredibly disappointed to not have been considered for support.

“Losing the previous 40 per cent discount, on top of April’s revaluation of the rateable value of premises, will take a heavy toll on small firms, threatening jobs and our high streets.

“The fact that this is another one-year temporary relief reflects a pattern of short-term fixes in a complicated and often arbitrary business rates system that needs urgent reform.”

Carolyn Brownell, Executive Director of FOR Cardiff, said: “Whilst Welsh Government’s announcement of additional business rates relief for around 4,400 eligible hospitality businesses is welcome news for high streets, for some venues, this support has sadly come too late.

“Business rates remain a structural challenge and despite this relief many hospitality businesses will still be paying more in 2026/2027 than in 2025/2026.

“Whilst the 15% relief recognises the ongoing cost pressures facing the sector, a long-term solution must be identified to secure sustainability for the hospitality businesses which are fundamental to Cardiff’s community, economy and social identity.

“This support has been guaranteed for one year in Wales compared to three years in England.

“When the next Welsh Government is elected in May they must ensure that support for the hospitality sector continues into the future.”