IPSE, the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self Employed, has today welcomed the launch of a review into business rates by the Treasury.

The year-long review will consider a number of measures to better support small businesses and could see a move away from rates determined by property value. IPSE believes that shared work spaces, often referred to as work-hubs, should be a focus of the review. Simon McVicker, Director of Policy and External Affairs at IPSE, said: “We welcome the review into business rates and hope that it will lead to a cut in rates for work-hubs that we have long been calling for. Work-hubs provide a valuable service to the UK’s 4.6 million self-employed who use them for desk space, networking and collaborative working.

IPSE called for a cut in business rates for work-hubs in its manifesto and have been in talks with the Department for Business, Enterprise and Skills around the issue. IPSE believes that cutting rates for work-hubs will encourage their growth, which in turn will help the UK’s smallest businesses to succeed. Work-hubs are an increasingly important part of the economic landscape. The Government should recognise this by tackling one of the biggest threats to their success – business rates. A rate cut would benefit not just the hubs themselves but also the thousands of small businesses that use them.”