Business Rates

Graeme Duncan Joins the Team

PRESS RELEASE

Smart & Co is delighted to announce that Graeme Duncan has joined the company as an equity Director.

Graeme joins from a well known national surveying firm where he was Partner in Charge of the Scotland Commercial department with over 14 years experience in the Perthshire and Tayside property markets – particularly in the business rates, property management, agency and valuation sectors.

Doug Smart said “I am delighted to welcome Graeme to the company. His joining is great news for our clients as his detailed knowledge and expertise in the rating system and in property management expands our service offering and we are now able to provide all the key commercial property functions in one place. We have enjoyed year on year growth since our beginning eight years ago and are confident looking to the future. With the rating revaluation this April, the timing of Graeme’s arrival is especially good news for existing and new clients.”

Graeme Duncan said “I am thrilled and highly motivated taking on this new role and looking forward to offering existing and new clients a bespoke and personal level of service that hopefully exceeds expectation. Having known Doug for a number of years we have the same hunger and ambition to take Smart and Co forward through it’s next chapter of growth whilst retaining the company ethos of providing the highest possible level of service to clients”.

Smart & Co was formed in 2008 and provides a wide range of Surveying services to clients across Scotland from their base in Perthshire. Services include: rent reviews, development land sales, general agency, site finding, property investment, valuation, management and business rates advice.

Ends.

Jan 2017

Rating Valuations now released

Draft Rateable Values (RV) for commercial properties across Scotland have now been released and will come into effect from April 2017.

You should check yours online at www.saa.gov.uk and see what is being proposed for your property. Check whether all the information is correct - this is going to form the basis for how much you pay for Business Rates for the next 5 years so take your time to make sure its right.

The RV is based upon the 'tone' rental value of your property two years ago, and you pay a percentage of the RV based on the Uniform Business Rate. Depending on your circumstances you may qualify for discounts, however these aren't automatically applied so you will need to apply for them.

There will be winners - with some Rateable Values reducing - but inevitably many will see their RV's rise and now is the time to consider lodging an appeal to challenge this. Even for those whose RV has reduced, further savings may still be secured due to errors in the calculations. 

As always for your best chances of success, take professional advice.

If you would like to discuss how Smart & Co can help you, please contact us.