D-Day for Edinburgh’s high streets
Plus: Buses and trams get busier; pyro penalty for Hibs; and Space X investor faces battle for control
Shops, bars and restaurants warn of widespread closures as city businesses face huge rates rises
Shops, bars and restaurants are warning of more high street closures as they face massive hikes in their business rates.
Some are seeing their projected bills more than triple following the latest rates revaluation with increases of more than £100,000 in the worst cases.
Businesses across the Capital have been hard hit by a change in the way rates are calculated to be based on the rental value of their property.
Shops, bars and restaurants have been among the hardest hit, but all types of businesses have been affected from bookshops to gyms.
They are calling on the Scottish Government to take emergency action in tomorrow’s Budget to stop the tax rises going ahead in April, saying it will put businesses and jobs at risk.
Edinburgh hard hit: Roddy Smith, chief executive of Essential Edinburgh, the city centre Business Improvement District (BiD), said the Capital was set to be disproportionately affected by the rates revaluation. Almost three-quarters (72%) of levy-paying businesses in the city centre BID, nearly 500 in total, are in the hardest-hit retail, hospitality and leisure sectors.
Closures threat: “We are now seeing substantial rates increases that risk forcing otherwise viable businesses to close, rather than enabling them to invest and prosper,” Smith said.
Online and out-of-town: Essential Edinburgh and many city centre businesses have written to the Scottish and UK Governments asking for reform of the rates system, which taxes online shopping and retail parks at lower rates than high street businesses. “The current rates framework has the unintended consequence of making out-of-town retail comparatively cheaper, or online trading more attractive, which undermines efforts to support vibrant, accessible and sustainable urban centres,” said Smith.
United plea: Scotland’s main business organisations -the Federation of Small Businesses, Institute of Directors, Scottish Chambers of Commerce, Scottish Financial Enterprise, Confederation of British Industry and Prosper - have jointly written to Finance Minister Shona Robison calling for action in tomorrow’s Budget. That includes matching existing support offered to retail, hospitality and leisure businesses south of the border and offering more help to small businesses.
Costs crisis: The latest prospective tax rises come amid a cost crisis for businesses, with several estimates suggested basic operating costs have risen by 50% or more since the pandemic. That has been driven by sharp rises in wages, utility bills, taxes such as employers’ national insurance, and the cost of raw materials.
In numbers: A third of firms (34%) are worried about their business rates, the highest level since 2017, according to the British Chambers of Commerce. Concern is highest in the hospitality sector (49%), with manufacturing (44%) and logistics (43%) close behind.
Other issues? The Scottish Government has an extra £822 million to spend as a result of the ‘consequentials’ following the UK Budget. It has committed £133m over the next two years to fund a new pay deal for resident doctors and £10m to charities working to alleviate child poverty.
What happens next? All eyes are on tomorrow’s budget to see whether Shona Robison takes steps to stop the huge rises in rates bills arriving in April. That could include reducing the ‘poundage rate’ which is used to calculate all final bills and the extension of rates reliefs for specific businesses.
YOUR EDINBURGH BRIEFING
BUSY BUSES: A hugely busy summer that saw mega-concerts run alongside the festivals contributed to a big increase in customers using Lothian Buses and Edinburgh Trams. More than 130 million passenger journeys were recorded on bus and tram in 2025, with Lothian Buses accounting for 119 million, up 2.6%. Edinburgh Trams had another record-breaking year, seeing growth of 3.3 % with 12.5 million passenger journeys. Passengers can now make contactless payments, capped across journeys on trams or buses, thanks to its roll out on trams earlier this year.
UNI STRIKE: Lecturers at Napier University have backed strike action in protest at the threat of compulsory redundancies. The university is looking to cut 70 jobs with the possibility up to around 15 of them could be compulsory cuts. The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) says the cuts will damage teaching quality.
PYRO PENALTY FOR HIBS: Hibs have been served with a suspended penalty by the football authorities for failing to take sufficient action to stop supporters using pyrotechnics. A small minority of Hibs fans “threw devices towards players and staff of the home club” in a match at Motherwell last November.
GARDENS MEMORIAL: A bronze lion sculpture by Edinburgh artist Kenny Hunter is being planned for a new military memorial in Princes Street Garden. The lion is part of the cap badge of the Royal Regiment of Scotland whose moto Nemo me lacessit impune (No one provokes me with impunity) also features on the momument. The memorial near the Ross Fountain could be used for future Remembrance Day ceremonies.
BETTER BATHS: The beautiful Victorian swimming baths on the Portobello seafront are to get a £7.5m refurbishment including a new gym space overlooking the beach and extra poolside cubicles.
MEADOWS MEMORIAL: A commemorative plaque marking the first recorded Edinburgh football derby has been unveiled at 7 Boroughloch, overlooking the site on the Meadows where Hibs played Hearts on Christmas Day 1875. The plaque was jointly commissioned by the Hearts Football Club Heritage Department and Hibernian Historical Society to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the world’s second oldest major football rivalry.
THREE-WEEKLY BIN COLLECTIONS: Landfill waste bins will be collected once every three weeks in Midlothian as part of a new council system aimed at improving recycling rates.
STARFISH STORM: Winter storms are thought to be to blame for thousands of starfish washing up on the beach at Wardie Bay in Granton. The phenomena has been repeated on the banks of the Forth in recent years.
Pic of the week
THE BUSINESS
Space X investor battles for his future at Edinburgh fund
The chairman of investment trust Edinburgh Worldwide has warned its future is on the line as he faces a showdown with the predatory hedge fund Saba.
Jonathan Simpson-Dent has told The Mail on Sunday a vote to oust the trust’s board tabled by Saba Capital is likely to be “really close” when the results are announced on 20 January. An imminent deadline for voting by shareholders follows a campaign by Saba described by Simpson-Dent as “horribly personal”.
Saba’s founder Boaz Weinstein has demanded answers over Edinburgh Worldwide’s sell down of its stake in Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which he has described as the “crown jewel” in its portfolio.
Edinburgh Worldwide has accused Weinstein of making “numerous inaccurate statements”. Its efforts to see off Saba has been bolstered by major institutional investors Legal & General indicating will vote against said it would vote against its attempted takeover.
PROFITABLE STRATEGY: Edinburgh-based building firm Cruden has posted increased profit – despite a fall in turnover - as its confirmed it is shifting focus away from tendered construction contracts towards land-led partnership development. In its accounts for the year to 31 March, the firm reported pre-tax profit of £2.4m, more than double the £917,000 posted for the previous year, on turnover down 15% to £112.3 million.
INVESTMENT ON TAP: Belhaven, owned by hospitality giant Greene King, has invested £5 million over this year on its franchise network of 22 pubs – and has joined others in the sector in calling for greater help on tackling rising business rates in Scotland.
THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT
ARTISTIC FASHION: Original fashion illustrations from the 1960s and 1970s are on show at the Dovecot Studios to complement its Biba Story exhibition. Drawing on Style runs until 11 April.
MIRIAM’S BACK: National treasure and “outspoken dyke” Miriam Margolyes has announced she is returning to the Capital, bringing her Miriam’s Full English, featuring stories from her new book, to the Playhouse on 6 October.
BURNING UP: Fringe favourite Connor Burns brings his new stand-up show Gallus to the Lyceum on Saturday. Expect razor-sharp wit and rapid-fire gags from one of Scottish comedy’s breakthrough stars.
QUICK BITES
TUTTO BENE: Italian sandwich shop Toscano in Edinburgh is to expand from its Bruntsfield store, with the opening of a new venue planned for Blair Street in the Old Town this Spring.
CAFÉ CLOSES: Buttercup café in North Berwick High Street has closed. First opened in 1962, the café’s owners said the decision has “not been an easy one.”
Is there any chance you can do a deeper contextual piece about the business rates rise please?
I understand how difficult it is for a business to adapt to sudden large overhead increases, but I don't understand the rationale by the council, especially in relation to malls etc.