Business
Christmas attractions face sharp rise in property taxes after Budget
London’s Winter Wonderland and Hamleys are set to be hit by sharp jumps in their property taxes from next year as UK Christmas attractions come under pressure from next year’s business rates overhaul.
Analysis of official figures has shown that a raft of Christmas attractions, markets and destination-led retail will face increases in business rates payments from April.
However, other major retail destinations and Christmas shopping locations, such as Harrods, will see their payments fall due to new property valuations.
In last month’s Budget, the Chancellor announced a current 40% discount for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses – which is capped at £110,000 per business – will end on March 31 next year.
This will be replaced by a new system from the next financial year, which will see rates multipliers for retail, hospitality and leisure firms set 5p lower than the standard rate with no cap in support.
The Government also launched a £3.2 billion scheme of transitional relief to cap annual rises.
However, new property valuations will be used to decide rate payments from April, with many of these updates leading to significant increases.
Calculations of Valuation Office Agency (VOA) data by global tax firm Ryan found that the land used for Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park sees its rateable value (RV) jump from £1.0m to £3.75m, up 275%, pushing its bill from £555,000 to £721,500 next year, despite a cap.
Meanwhile, Lapland UK in Ascot see its rateable value surge from £150,000 to £1.87 million.
Other major visitor destinations are also set to be affected, Camden Stables Market’s annual bill is set to rise from £699,300 to £909,090 next April after its valuation jumped by 178%.
Hamleys’ flagship toy store on Regent Street, London, will face one of the largest bill increases, rising by £449,550 next April.
However, other retailers will see their payments fall, with Waterstones’ flagship store in Piccadilly, London, set to see its bill fall by 45%, around £828,000, from next year.
Alex Probyn, practice leader for Europe and Asia-Pacific property tax at Ryan, told the Press Association: “Seasonal attractions have grown significantly in popularity between valuation dates, so upward pressure on their valuations was not unexpected but the level of increases were.
“The key question is whether the figures reflect their short seasonal rental model or whether broader income indicators have influenced the outcome. For temporary attractions, getting that balance right is critical.
“Across the wider retail sector, we’re seeing extremes both geographically and by format.”
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Target faces a new boycott over ICE response as retailer presses ahead with turnaround
A major teachers’ union is calling for its members to skip Target when buying back-to-school supplies, the latest twist in a series of boycotts that have targeted the big-box retailer as its turnaround shows signs of life, CNBC has learned.
The AFT, or American Federation of Teachers, passed a resolution Thursday that calls on its 1.8 million members and others to shop at local stores and not at Target, saying the company did not respond adequately to the surge of federal immigration enforcement in the retailer’s hometown of Minneapolis this winter. Federal agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, during the operation.
The labor union, which is affiliated with the AFL-CIO, plans to urge a similar resolution at AFL-CIO’s convention in Minneapolis this summer and at conventions held by other organizations, including the NAACP and LULAC, AFT President Randi Weingarten said.
Target declined to comment specifically on the AFT’s resolution but said in a statement that it has “a longstanding commitment to strengthening the communities we serve,” including donating 5% of profits since the company’s founding and offering a discount to educators as part of a teacher appreciation program.
Target’s annual sales have declined for the past three years in a row, but the company’s new CEO Michael Fiddelke laid out an ambitious plan earlier this month to refresh its stores, add more enticing merchandise and return to sales growth. The retailer said it expects net sales to rise about 2% this fiscal year compared with the prior year and anticipates sales will grow every quarter.
It is unclear if and how much the AFT’s call for a back-to-school boycott could hurt Target, which is trying to win back customers. Earlier this month, Atlanta area pastor Jamal Harrison Bryant announced the end of a yearlong boycott of the company, called Target Fast, which had started because of the company’s rollback of major diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
At a press conference, Bryant said Target has demonstrated its commitment to the Black community with investments in Black businesses and donations to Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Yet other activists leading a separate boycott, including former Ohio state Sen. Nina Turner, have said they continue to call for shoppers to steer clear of Target.
The AFT previously supported and participated in the Target boycott over its DEI rollback.
The retailer has attributed some of its sales losses to backlash to its DEI decision, along with other factors including company missteps with merchandise, a weaker store experience and softer discretionary spending.
At an investor meeting in Minneapolis in early March, Fiddelke stressed that it’s “a new chapter for Target.” He said the company is “doing the work to build connection with new guests, deepen relationships with existing guests and earn back trust with guests we’ve disappointed.”
In a separate email to Target employees earlier this month, Fiddelke highlighted how the retailer is putting its strategy into action, including through its move to cut prices on more than 3,000 items and the opening of its 2,000th store. He said Target has made progress with winning back trust, too, noting the end of the Target Fast boycott.
He said Target has had “ongoing conversations with the organizers” of the boycott, who have “acknowledged the meaningful contributions Target has made, and will continue to make, to the Black community.”
In an interview with CNBC, Weingarten said the AFT’s boycott is focused on what she called Target’s lack of response to the surge of aggressive and violent immigration enforcement in its own backyard. Weingarten said the AFT sent a letter to Target and met with Target staff to encourage them to speak up before the union moved to pass the resolution.
“Target was negotiating with our colleagues in the civil rights community for weeks and weeks and weeks,” she said. “They could have very easily dealt with both [concerns about DEI and immigration enforcement] and they chose not to.”
She said Target is “more worried about standing with the Trump administration than the communities that made them a profitable company.”
Fiddelke joined dozens of executives from Minnesota-based corporations in co-signing a letter in late January calling for an “immediate de-escalation” in the state after the fatal shooting of Pretti. However, the letter did not name the shooting victims Pretti or Good or call out the president, his immigration policies or federal agents.
Fiddelke also shared a video message with employees that more directly acknowledged current events, but stopped short of calling for ICE agents to leave the city or for accountability in the two shooting deaths.
Weingarten described the CEOs’ letter as “insulting” and said it “basically blamed both sides.”
She said the union, which includes many teachers, can have the greatest financial impact during the back-to-school shopping season this summer and fall. By passing the resolution now, she said, the AFT can get the word out to members and “give Target enough time to come back to its senses.”
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