Cabinet forced to write off over £100k of business rates after firms go bust

Alec Doyle – Local democracy reporter

A council cabinet has been forced to write off more than £107,000 of business rates – including £33,000 from a north Wales pub.

The decision by Flintshire County Council will not impact the authority’s finances however as business rates go directly into the Welsh Government’s None-Domestic Rates  Collection Pool to be redistributed to all 22 Welsh local authorities.

Two significant debts were considered irrecoverable by Flintshire Council’s Cabinet.

The first was £33,394.28 owed by the former owners of the historic Druid Inn in Pontblyddyn.

The 200-year-old coach house ceased trading as a pub in 2020.

‘Shame’

Owners The Druid Inn (Mold) Ltd went into insolvency in March 2023 and Flintshire County Council sought to recover the owed business rates.

But with the company now liquidated and still owing unsecured creditors almost £85,000 there is no realistic prospect that the rates will be paid.

“It was a real shame because the Druid Inn went out of business during covid,” said Flintshire Council Cabinet Member for Transformation Cllr Richard Jones.

“Hopefully there is some good news however as I believe the site has been purchased for an alternative use by an ophthalmic company I believe.”

Creditors

The second write-off approved by Cabinet was for £74,187.31 owed by Premier Grip Holdings Ltd – a manufacturing business based in Minerva House, in the Flintshire part of Chester West Business Park.

The company is going through the winding up process. An initial attempt to recover business rates form the business by Flintshire was successful and around £64,000 was collected.

But the business now just £10,000 left, with 18 unsecured creditors owed £106,900 in total.

“While this has no impact directly on the people of Flintshire, non-payment of rates and write-offs does impact Welsh taxpayers overall,” said Cabinet Member for Finance and Social Value Cllr Paul Johnson.

“The council continues to pursue all reasonable recovery options before recommending write-offs and remains committed to protection public funds.”