To the Chancellor of the Exchequer,

We are small and medium sized businesses across England, working in different industries and in different parts of the country. Businesses like ours employ most of the private sector workforce.

Business rates are charged on the buildings we occupy rather than on the trade we do inside them. The bill arrives whether we are busy or empty, and it goes up when we spend money improving the premises. Between us we have shelved refurbishments, left units standing empty, delayed hiring and decided against expansion, and in each case the rates bill was part of the reason.

We know the system has been changed. Reliefs have been introduced and withdrawn and multipliers have been added and changed. None of it has altered the thing that causes the problem, which is that this tax takes no account of whether a business is trading well or trading badly.

Another discount would not fix that. We are asking you to use the Budget on 28 October to commit to rethinking this tax, and to publish a timetable for doing it.

We would welcome the chance to give evidence to that work, since we are the people who pay the bill.

Yours sincerely,